President William Ruto has announced the immediate cancellation of Adani Group’s controversial Public Private Partnership (PPP) totaling Sh333.68 billion in light of the US indictment on bribery charges.

During his State of The Nation address in the National Assembly on Thursday, Ruto ordered the termination of Adani’s deals with Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) worth Sh238 billion and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) worth Sh95.68 as the firm faces fraud charges.

“I have stated in the past, and I reiterate today, that in the face of undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, I will not hesitate to take decisive action,” stated President Ruto.

Ruto directed: “Accordingly, I now direct - in furtherance of the principles enshrined in Article 10 of the Constitution on transparency and accountability, and based on new information provided by our investigative agencies and partner nations - that the procuring agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA Expansion Public Private Partnership transaction, as well as the recently concluded KETRACO transmission line Public Private Partnership contract, and immediately commence the process of onboarding alternative partners.”

In that regard, the Head of State directed Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi and his Roads and Transport colleague Davis Chirchir to seek fresh partners for the two upgrading projects.

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“They should begin the process of onboarding alternative partners because these are important projects. We value the contribution of all whether it comes in the form of support, criticism or protest. The most important component of leadership is listening and learning,” Ruto added.

The announcement was welcomed with a thunderous applause from Members of Parliament in the chambers, including those from the ruling party, UDA, who had openly backed the Adani deals before.

Ironically, President Ruto made the declaration only hours after Wandayi appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Energy and insisted the Adani-KETRACO deal was above board.

The CS told MPs the government had conducted two phases of due diligence on Adani Group, including a documentary review process where the firm proved technical, legal and financial capacity to execute.

The US Department of Justice indicted Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani for allegedly paying an equivalent of Sh30 billion in bribes to the Indian government to attain solar energy supply contracts.

According to the US DOJ, the fraudulent scheme targeted US investors, enabling Adani Green Energy Ltd to raise $175 million under false pretenses, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filing separate charges against Adani executives and Cyril Cabanes of Azure Power Global.

It remains unclear what financial implications the termination of the two mega deals will have on Kenya given details of the said agreements have remained shrouded in mystery amid court challenges locally.

In Kenya, Adani Group had secured a Sh238 billion contract to upgrade and operate JKIA and also secured another Sh96 billion tender to upgrade the country’s obsolete power transmission lines.