In 2024 Adani Group companies pursued a 30-year privately initiated proposal to expand and run Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and signed a 30-year, Sh95.68 billion power transmission deal with KETRACO. After court suspensions, a workers' strike and US charges against Gautam Adani, President William Ruto ordered both deals cancelled on 21 November 2024. The US criminal charges against Gautam Adani were dismissed with prejudice in August 2026 and the SEC civil case was settled without admission of wrongdoing, while petitions in Kenya's High Court remained open.
As of 31 October 2026 both Kenyan deals stand cancelled, and the Kenya Airports Authority says it has no talks with Adani. Petitions in the High Court before Justice Bahati Mwamuye had not been reported decided, and no compensation figure for the KETRACO deal had been made public.
Adani submitted a privately initiated proposal on 1 March 2024 to take over the running and management of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for 30 years, according to The Star and the Kenya Human Rights Commission.
The government approved aviation policies in June 2024 that the Kenya Human Rights Commission says gave Adani a head start on the planned airport expansion. The commission reported proposed terms including an 18 percent equity stake in the aeronautical business and a concession fee starting at Sh6 billion.
Nelson Amenya, a Kenyan MBA student in France, posted documents on his X account that he said showed the terms of the Adani proposal, including the lack of public consultation, according to the BBC. The Adani Group called his claims baseless and malicious and said no contract had been signed. In September he told KTN that DCI officers had contacted him and warned of possible charges, Citizen Digital reported.
Justice John Chigiti of the High Court in Milimani granted the Law Society of Kenya and the Kenya Human Rights Commission leave to seek judicial review (HCJR E199 of 2024) and issued a conservatory order halting any action on the Adani proposal until the case is decided.
Aviation workers walked out at JKIA, grounding flights and stranding passengers, the Associated Press reported. The union said the deal would cost jobs. The government said the airport was not for sale. The strike was called off after talks and a return-to-work agreement.
At the first mention of the JKIA case the Kenya Human Rights Commission asked for the case to be heard by a three-judge bench, and the court said it would decide on 25 October, according to the commission.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi announced that KETRACO and Adani Energy Solutions had signed a Sh95.68 billion ($736 million) agreement for Adani to finance, build and run transmission lines and substations for 30 years before handing them over. Business Daily called it Kenya's first PPP-funded power project.
Citizen DigitalBusiness DailyThe Star (Kenya)#A five-count sealed indictment, case 24-cr-433, was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York against eight defendants including Gautam Adani, according to the Stanford FCPA Clearinghouse. The case concerned solar energy contracts in India, not Kenya.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued conservatory orders barring implementation of the KETRACO and Adani agreements and any new or existing agreement between them, pending a hearing. The Star and Business Daily said the Law Society of Kenya brought the case, which called the deal a constitutional sham.
US prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed charges alleging that Gautam Adani and seven others agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian officials for solar contracts and misled investors. Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, while the bribery and obstruction counts named five other defendants. All were presumed innocent.
Stanford Law School FCPA ClearinghouseUS Securities and Exchange Commission#The US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, alleging that a 2021 Adani Green Energy note offering contained false or misleading statements about anti-bribery efforts. It sought injunctions, civil penalties and officer and director bars.
A spokesperson for the Adani Group said the Justice Department and SEC allegations were baseless and denied, noted that defendants are presumed innocent, and said the group would seek all possible legal recourse.
In his State of the Nation address to Parliament, President Ruto directed the transport and energy ministries to cancel the JKIA expansion procurement and the signed KETRACO deal and find new partners, Reuters reported. Energy Cabinet Secretary Wandayi had earlier told a parliamentary committee the project would proceed, according to Citizen Digital.
The Law Society of Kenya welcomed the decision and asked the government to disclose all costs and losses from cancelling the deals, especially the signed KETRACO contract, and to follow PPP law.
Replying to Indian stock exchanges, Adani Energy Solutions said the cancellation of the $736 million transmission project did not require a regulatory disclosure and that it was not involved in the JKIA deal, the Nation reported.
In a petition by Tony Gachoka and others, Justice Mwamuye barred the government from entering any JKIA concession with Adani while the case is pending, barred Adani from taking over the airport and ordered the government to produce evidence of the cancellation. Adani's lawyer said no binding agreement had been signed and asked for the company to be removed from the case.
President Donald Trump suspended enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 2025, the Associated Press reported, which led some in India to expect the Adani case to be shelved.
Energy Principal Secretary Alex Wachira told a parliamentary committee that Kenyans would bear the cost of compensating Adani for work already done on the KETRACO project, without giving a figure, The Standard reported.
The Attorney General's office told Justice Mwamuye that cancelling the KETRACO deal was still being finalised and asked for more time. The judge set a final deadline of 1 August 2025 and a further date of 27 October. The government told the court the JKIA concession had been formally cancelled, The Standard reported.
The National Treasury's PPP Directorate said Kenya was in talks with the Adani Group seeking an amicable resolution over the cancelled transmission deal, Business Daily reported. No amount was disclosed.
The Kenya Airports Authority told the High Court that the Adani airport agreement had been formally terminated and asked for the 2024 orders to be lifted. Justice Mwamuye declined and set filing deadlines in March and April 2026, with a mention on 6 May.
Responding to media reports linking Adani to the planned JKIA expansion, KAA acting managing director Mohamud Gedi said the Adani proposal was formally cancelled, there were no talks with the group or its affiliates, and the expansion would be government-funded.
The SEC asked the court to enter final judgments by consent under which Gautam Adani would pay a $6 million civil penalty and Sagar Adani $12 million, with permanent injunctions against further securities fraud violations, without admitting or denying the allegations. The SEC release mentions no officer or director bars.
OCCRPBloomberg Law#The Justice Department asked the court to dismiss the charges, saying it had decided not to devote further resources to them, the Associated Press reported. AP said the defendants' lawyers agreed. Adani Green Energy told Indian exchanges the same day that the motion sought dismissal with prejudice.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that the government's notice did not adequately explain the decision and ordered more information by 13 July, Al Jazeera reported with AP and Reuters. Adani's lawyers asked for the case to be formally dismissed.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the case was mainly foreign, hard to prove and out of line with current priorities, and denied that Adani's investment pledge played a part, Reuters reported. In a sworn declaration filed in mid-July, Gautam Adani said his lawyers had suggested his announced plan to invest $10 billion in the US might form part of a resolution, and said he knew of no agreement tied to dropping the case.
In a 47-page order, Judge Garaufis granted the Justice Department's motion and dismissed with prejudice the securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy counts against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, PTI reported. Reuters said he was satisfied the investment pledge was not a factor but criticised how the decision was made. He reserved judgment on the bribery and obstruction counts against five other defendants.
Judge Garaufis signed final judgments by consent resolving the SEC civil case, with Gautam Adani paying a $6 million penalty and Sagar Adani $12 million, under permanent injunctions and without admitting the allegations. Gautam Adani said on X that he welcomed the court's decision.
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Citizen Digital · citizen.digital
Kenya Human Rights Commission · khrc.or.ke Citizen Digital · citizen.digital
Capital FM · capitalfm.africa
Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com Citizen Digital · citizen.digital Stanford Law School FCPA Clearinghouse · fcpa.stanford.edu Al Jazeera (Reuters) · aljazeera.com Citizen Digital · citizen.digital Capital FM · capitalfm.africa
Nation (via Mwananchi) · mwananchi.co.tz
Kenyans.co.ke · kenyans.co.ke
Nation · nation.africa Citizen Digital · citizen.digital
Moneylife · moneylife.in
K24 Digital · k24.digital Capital FM · capitalfm.africa
allAfrica · allafrica.com OCCRP · occrp.org
Adani Green Energy Limited · adanigreenenergy.com
Associated Press via Marietta Daily Journal · mdjonline.com Al Jazeera · aljazeera.com
Outlook India · outlookindia.com MLex · mlex.com Free Press Journal · freepressjournal.inLast updated 31 October 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.