Kenya Court Suspends $736 Million Adani Power-Line Buildout Deal
A Kenyan court suspended a $736 million government deal to allow India’s Adani Group to build and operate high-voltage power transmission lines for 30 years.
Kenyan authorities are restrained from implementing the project signed earlier this month, or entering into any new agreements with Adani to develop transmission lines, substations or any other electrical power infrastructure, High Court Judge Andrew Bahati Mwamuye ruled Friday.
Adani didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Law Society of Kenya, which brought the case before the court, argued that the deal with Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s company is “a constitutional sham” that’s “tainted with secrecy” and falls short of constitutional principles.
This is the second deal in as many months by Adani in Kenya that courts have frozen.
A court in September suspended President William Ruto’s plan to allow Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. to operate the nation’s main airport for 30 years.
Ruto on Thursday defended the government’s planned deals with Adani Group, saying the nation is turning to public-private partnerships because it doesn’t have headroom to borrow for infrastructure projects.
The Adani-backed deals have sparked protests in Kenya and irked the public because of the opacity of some of the deals.
Kenya is at high risk of debt distress and is plagued by corruption, forcing it to turn to the International Monetary Fund to deal with the twin challenges. Debt repayments, as well as arrears to contractors and suppliers, are piling up.
Planned taxes on everything from bread to diapers — meant to raise more than $2 billion in additional taxes – hit a raw nerve in the world’s biggest black tea shipper and sparked protests that left at least 60 dead.
That forced Ruto to scrap the levies, trim budget spending and turn to more borrowing to plug a fiscal deficit that the Treasury sees at 4.3% of gross domestic product in the period to June 2025, from an earlier estimate of 3.3% of output.
