Story of JKIA security breach sparks a storm

NAIROBI, KENYA: A storm is brewing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport following an exposé detailing a security gap linked to the recent award of a lucrative cargo slot.

Senior Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) managers were said to be furious after the Sunday Standard revealed that Jetways Airlines — a local carrier — was running unchecked operations in its miraa exports to volatile Somalia.

Last evening, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet led a group of top security officers to the JKIA to investigate the embarrassing breach that could trigger a downgrade of the airport’s Category 1 international status.

A storm has been brewing between the national carrier, Kenya Airways, and the management of the airport over the awarding of a slot to a new operator who has not installed prerequisite security gadgets.

There were reports that employees of Jetways Airlines enjoyed unrestricted leeway at the terminal, while other entry points are manned by officers from the Border Control Department of the Kenya Revenue Authority as the first and last contacts with incoming or outgoing cargo.

Following the exposé, two employees of Kenya Airways have been arrested over claims that they aided in uncovering the weakness that could be exploited to cause grave harm to air operators.

Grave harm

Peter Kiongo was charged yesterday with trespass into the slot granted to Jetways Airlines, which stands beside his employer’s space, even as questions emerged over how the award was made.

He was later freed on a Sh20,000 bond while the whereabouts of his colleague and security manager in charge of cargo, Kenneth Yegon, remained unclear.

Neither of the employees arrested were involved in the investigations that unveiled the potential security breach.

Kenya Airways has for years controlled Kenya Airfreight Handling Limited (KAHL), which it uses for its cargo business, until the entry of Jetways Airlines.

Indications were that Government could be targeting individuals suspected of leaking the story to the Sunday Standard, accusing them of aiding a breach of security.

For KAA, the stakes are high because the country’s main airport has just been granted a new Category one status that would allow for direct flights to the United States later in the year.

The Standard has learnt that the US, whose local embassy uses the Postal Corporation of Kenya to send and receive its correspondence, has expressed concern about the security situation at the airport.

The fears were said to be informed by the fact that the correspondence is handled at the cargo section now shared with Jetways Airlines.

Cargo section

Kenya Airways, which uses KAHL as its export cargo section, shares the same warehouse with Jetways, a new operator with night flights but which has yet to set up the necessary security installations.

It is emerging that Kenya Airways had expressed its concerns about its new neighbour at KAHL to KAA, saying its operations threatened security at the airport.

But KAA, which owns the warehouse, did not react, prompting the airline to apply for permission to construct a separating wall.