EACC paves the way for airport expansion
What you need to know:
- The proposed terminal is expected to increase passenger handling capacity by 20 million when completed in 2017, doubling JKIA’s current capacity at an estimated cost of Sh55.5 billion.
- There have been concerns that delays in converting the former garage into a world-class terminal may have given Ethiopia and Rwanda an undue advantage in the race to become the aviation hub for East Africa.
- The matter was taken to Parliament which ruled in favour of the Greenfield project.
A decision by the anti-corruption agency not to charge former Kenya Airports Authority officials over procurement for the proposed Greenfield Terminal, paves the way for the start of the project that has been delayed for years.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Tuesday last week recommended that the file on the terminal be closed.
The bid at Nairobi’s main airport awarded to two Chinese firms Anhui Civil Engineering Group (ACEG) and China Aero-Technology Engineering International Engineering Corporation (Catic) JV, has been dogged by controversy since it was awarded on December 16, 2011.
The proposed terminal is expected to increase passenger handling capacity by 20 million when completed in 2017, doubling JKIA’s current capacity at an estimated cost of Sh55.5 billion.
It has, however, lagged, as oversight bodies including Parliament and EACC sought to investigate the tender award.
There have been concerns that delays in converting the former garage into a world-class terminal may have given Ethiopia and Rwanda an undue advantage in the race to become the aviation hub for East Africa.
The former is building an additional airport near Addis Ababa while the latter is setting up a bigger, modern facility at Bugesera, south of the current airport in Kigali.
In January 2012, the KAA board, with the backing of the Minister for Transport, Mr Amos Kimunya, tried to cancel the tender, saying the bidding process was not competitive.
TAKEN TO PARLIAMENT
The matter was taken to Parliament which ruled in favour of the Greenfield project.
Parliament noted that all public procurement laws were followed.
The Public Procurement Oversight Authority then directed KAA to execute the contract.
Suspended Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau disbanded the committee that had been appointed by his predecessor to oversee expansion of the airport and in 2013, President Uhuru Kenya presided over the ground breaking ceremony.
