President William Ruto Thursday directed the Ministries of Transport and Energy to cancel the ongoing deals proposed by the Adani Group to take over the country’s infrastructure in the energy and aviation sectors.
He said the decision was attributed to credible evidence from the relevant agencies.
He noted that the ongoing deals with the Adani Group could not continue with such insurmountable evidence.
The United States government charged Gautam Adani, chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group for allegedly paying Ksh.30 billion in bribes to the Indian government to obtain solar energy supply contracts.
“In the face of undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, I will not hesitate to take action. Based on the new information provided by investigating agencies and partnering nations that the procuring agencies within Ministry of Transport and Energy immediately cancel the ongoing process for the JKIA PPP deal and KETRACO deal,” he said.
There have been protests over the deals. There are pending cases in courts over the same.
The Indian billionaire Gautam Adani was charged with fraud in the US, which has accused him of orchestrating a $250m (£198m) bribery scheme and concealing it to raise money in the US.
The criminal charges, filed on Wednesday in New York, are the latest blow to 62-year-old Mr Adani, one of India’s richest men, whose business empire extends from ports and airports to renewable energy.
In the indictment, prosecutors alleged the tycoon and other senior executives had agreed to the payments to Indian officials to win contracts for his renewable energy company expected to yield more than $2bn in profits over 20 years.
The conglomerate has been operating under a cloud in the US since 2023, when a high-profile company published a report accusing it of fraud. The claims, which Mr Adani denied, prompted a major market sell-off.
Reports of this bribery probe have been circling for months. Prosecutors said the US started investigating the company in 2022, and found the inquiry obstructed.
They allege that executives raised $3bn in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm’s anti-bribery practices and policies, as well as reports of the bribery probe.
“As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and… lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors,” US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement announcing the charges.
“My office is committed to rooting out corruption in the international marketplace and protecting investors from those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets,” he added.
On several occasions Mr Adani met personally with government officials to advance the bribery scheme, officials said.
Mr Adani is a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has long faced claims from opposition politicians alleging that he has benefited from his political ties, which he denies.
The US Attorney positions in the US are appointed by the president. The filing comes just weeks after Donald Trump won election to the White House, pledging to overhaul the US Justice Department.
https://nairobinews.co.ke/man-arrested-for-wielding-sword-outside-the-office-of-the-president/
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