Atwoli slams Kalonzo for taking Gov’t to court over Adani deals

COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli has hit out at Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka over his involvement in the litigation process that saw infrastructural development deals between Indian conglomerate Adani Group and the government of Kenya cancelled.

Kalonzo was among the legal team representing petitioners who sought to block the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the government and Adani, which was set to grant the firm a 30-year lease to develop and manage the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

According to Atwoli, the move by Kalonzo is unbecoming of a leader who himself is interested in being President of the Republic someday.

He stated that similar PPP agreements as was the case between Adani and the Kenya Kwanza administration was also in the manifesto of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party in the run-up to the 2022 elections.

“What I saw on him (Kalonzo) today is not pleasing. For every government, when it is coming, it has its own manifesto on what it will do for the people. Expansion and modernizing our infrastructure was part of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio (manifestos),” Atwoli said on Citizen TV’s JKLive show on Wednesday night.

“Kalonzo was in Azimio, if Azimio would’ve won, Azimio would’ve embarked on infrastructural development. Now for you (Kalonzo) moving to court to challenge issues relating to Adani or any other project, and if you would’ve been a President also you would’ve done the same, and you’re aspiring to become a leader of this country, it defeats purpose.”

The COTU boss further urged President Ruto to push for the amendment of certain clauses in the Constitution 2010 for the sake of moving development of the country forward.

He stated that it must be inscribed in law that projects planned by the government are finished in time, to avoid scenarios of dissenting voices heading to the courts in a bid to block their completion due to varied reasons.

“If I were Ruto, for this country to develop, we must revisit the Constitution that we promulgated in 2010. We must have a clause where those people who are in charge of national projects must make sure that those projects are completed on time and as planned and voted for by Parliament,” said Atwoli.

“Issues of people rushing to Parliament to stop national projects, you can finish five years if you’re President without doing anything. And if you want to be a President, you don’t do what I saw Kalonzo doing today. Because tomorrow he will be a president, will he be happy being taken to court time and again because of national projects? And he is in a position to advice as a lawyer.”