Yes, MPs right to query, stall KQ's planned takeover of JKIA

Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) Chief Executive Officer Jonny Andersen (right), Corporation Secretary Katherine Kisila (left) and General Manager Finance Alex Gitari when they appeared before the National Assembly Public Investment Committee in the ongoing probe on the controversial proposal for Kenya Airways to run Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at Parliament Buildings last week. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The planned takeover of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by struggling national carrier Kenya Airways was thrown into further controversy last week after Kenya Airports Authority MD Jonny Andersen bizarrely admitted that he had only received a letter from PSs Paul Maringa and Esther Koimett advising him about the new developments.

It got even more absurd when Mr Andersen admitted that KAA – the operator of all the country’s airports- did not even initiate the takeover bid nor had he seen a Cabinet Memo authorizing the same. Ideally, such a planned takeover of a vital national resource is sanctioned at Cabinet level.  And there are numerous complex steps to be taken before the bid is finalized.