The student who blew the whistle on Kenya airport controversy

Kenyan business student Nelson Amenya has been hailed as a hero by campaigners for greater transparency in the deals his government makes with private companies.

Recent Kenyan history is replete with stories of large contracts being awarded to corruption – and despite laws preventing this from happening, it is suspected that this continues.

Mr Amenya, 30, who is studying in France for an MBA, leaked details on social media in July of what he said was a proposed agreement between Kenya and the Adani Group, an Indian multinational.

This concerns the management of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), the largest airport in the country and the region, which has long been in need of a complete overhaul.

Mr Amenya, whose profile was as an anti-corruption activist, said, “My first feeling (when I was handed the documents) was that it was just another government deal… I didn’t understand the magnitude or seriousness of it. Didn’t come.” The increase, tells the BBC.

The documents detail a $2 billion (£1.6 billion) proposal by Adani Group to lease JKIA for 30 years to modernize and run it.

As he started reading the papers, he realized that if it went ahead, it was “going to hurt the Kenyan economy” while all the profits would go to the Indian multinational.

According to what he read, the deal seemed unfair to him, as Kenya would still put up the largest share of the money, but would not receive the financial rewards.

Mr Amenya had good reason to think the papers were genuine because “the people who were giving me these documents were from very legitimate departments of the government”, he says.

Adani Group is involved in infrastructure, mining and energy projects globally in countries such as Israel, UAE, France, Tanzania, Australia and Greece. Its founder Gautam Adani is a big player in India’s economy and a close aide of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Through further reading, Mr Amenya says he learned that the Adani deal with Kenya could have left his country with the obligation to repay the company if it did not recoup its investment.

“This was a gross breach of the people’s trust by the leadership of the President, the Kenya Airports Authority, the Minister – they all betrayed the people,” he alleged.

Despite having the evidence in his hands, Mr Amenya struggled with what to do next. His own safety was at risk, although living in France was better than living in Kenya, where anti-corruption activists have been targeted and some killed.

“I was a little scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I’m risking my career, I’m risking my life, why should I risk doing this?” he asked himself at that time.

However, in the end he felt that remaining silent was not an option.

“You know, only cowards live long.”

After spending weeks poring over what was sent to him, Mr Amenya leaked the documents on his X page in July, sparking immediate outrage in Kenya.

JKIA airport employees went on strike demanding cancellation of the deal.

“It felt like a duty to me, to my country. Even though I’m far away, I still have a duty to my country. I want to see a better Kenya, my home country, developed, industrialized and corruption is eliminated. Let there be an end.”

He worried that the airport deal was a foreshadowing of what might come next.

Mr Amenya says it is not just the unusual terms and lack of transparency that should raise alarm bells, alleging that Kenyan laws appear to have been systematically ignored.

“(Officials) never did due diligence on this company… They didn’t follow the proper procurement process.”

They allege that some government officials hoped to circumvent legal requirements, including public consultation, that prevent taxpayers’ money from being misspent.

A report in April by the Kenya Airports Authority on the proposed deal revealed that there were no plans to consult stakeholders on the plan.

“This was in April, and by July when I was uncovering it, they had not made any public involvement. The deal was quite secret, and by that time they were just a month away from signing the deal,” Mr Amenya. he blamed.

“When I revealed the deal they came in hurriedly and tried to do a sham public engagement thing – they called Kenya Airports Authority staff and started holding stakeholder meetings.”

Various officials and branches of the state denied allegations of corruption in the process and officials proceeded to sign another multimillion-dollar deal with the Adani Group – this time to build power lines.

Adani Group said Mr Amenya’s claims were baseless and malicious.

A spokesperson told the BBC that “the proposal was submitted following Kenyan public-private partnership rules and was intended to create a world-class airport and significantly enhance the Kenyan economy by creating many new jobs”.

Adani Group further says that no contract was signed as “discussions did not progress to a binding agreement”.

The company also says the energy deal proposal was above board and the company “categorically denies all allegations and insinuations of any violation of Kenyan laws in our operations or proposals.

“Every project we undertake is driven by a strong commitment to compliance, transparency and the laws of the respective countries in which we operate,” the statement said.

But it was not Mr Amenya’s leaks that actually changed the government’s mind.

It was only after US authorities indicted Gautam Adani for alleged involvement in a $250m (£200m) bribery scheme that Kenya took action.

Representatives of Adani Group denied the allegations by US prosecutors and called them “baseless”.

In a state-of-the-nation address to Parliament last month, Kenyan President William Ruto announced the cancellation of both Adani deals.

“In the face of indisputable evidence or credible information on corruption, I will not hesitate to take decisive action,” Ruto said in his speech to loud applause inside parliament.

Kenyans celebrated the verdict, which Ruto attributed to new information provided by investigating agencies and partner countries.

“I was in class when it was announced. I couldn’t believe it,” Mr Amenya says.

“I think I had tears in my eyes for the first hour. I was so happy.”

Although he doesn’t see himself as a hero, messages of support have been pouring in from everywhere, including India.

Forty minutes after the class ended, he sent his now-famous tweet “Adios Adani!!” Posted. – Goodbye Adani.

“It was important… everything I did finally paid off.”

However, the feeling of victory came after months of personal struggle and pressure.

Soon after disclosing the airport deal, Mr Amenya was sued for defamation by an Adani Group representative and a Kenyan politician, leading to questions about whether he should continue.

He recalls, “Some people from the government were coming to me, they were even ready to pay me, they were telling me: ‘You need to withdraw the cash and stop this fight with the government. “

“Giving up would have been the biggest mistake of my life, a betrayal of the Kenyan people.”

But even after canceling the deals, President Ruto still questions why Kenyans opposed this and many other projects he supported. He says he will find a way to upgrade the airport.

“I saw him saying that those who stopped the upgrading of our airport are heroes. Heroes? What do you gain when you stop the construction of airports in your own country?” Ruto asked at a public event in early December.

“You have no idea how it will be built, and the people who are opposing it have never even stepped inside the airport, you just want to protest.”

Mr Amenya, who still faces defamation cases, is now raising money to help with his legal fees, and says his future in Kenya is uncertain.

He says, “I have received threats from credible intelligence agencies and people in Kenya who have warned me not to go back because obviously there are some people who are very angry with what I have done.”

A steep price, but one Mr Amenya says he would happily pay again.

“We don’t really need to wait for someone to save us,” he says.