Suspended Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) acting Managing Director Lucy Mbugua admitted that the State corporation was slow in meeting its part of an agreement brokered with controversial businessman Kamlesh Pattni to drop cases filed against the corporation.
Ms Mbugua yesterday told the Public Investment Committee (PIC) of the National Assembly that KAA caused a delay in giving a company associated with Pattni a shop at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa, which was part of an agreement with the businessman for him to drop all legal action against the corporation.
The committee was informed that it was the failure to give the space in Mombasa that Pattni cited as the main reason for ignoring the agreement he had reached with KAA.
Instead, the company associated with Pattni allowed the cases filed to go on and also claim an arbitrary award of Sh4.2 billion given to him against KAA by the courts.
Seek damages
She confirmed that under the agreement, Pattni had agreed that he also would not seek damages after his company was forcefully evicted from the airport.
However, the suspended KAA boss said the businessman backtracked on the agreement since KAA had failed to grant him the Mombasa airport space as agreed.
“They said they could not fulfill their part of the agreement because we had not given them space at the Mombasa airport,” Mbugua told the Parliamentary committee.
The agreement entered into by the two parties was the condition that Pattni had given KAA to drop the cases and forego the Sh4.2 billion court award.
In yesterday’s proceedings, Mbugua dismissed the position taken by Pattni, arguing that KAA had informed his company that it could not grant him the Mombasa space immediately as they were reorganising the facility.
She further accused the controversial businessman for shifting goalposts after he was eventually given the space at the Mombasa airport and started making demands for more space at JKIA Terminal 4, which was not part of the initial agreement.
“After the reorganisation at the Moi International Airport, we gave them the space as agreed, but unfortunately after we met our part of the bargain, the goalposts were shifted and they started demanding more space at Terminal 4, which was not part of the agreement,” she explained.
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