Latest news with #Kenyan
Hans India
41 minutes ago
- Business
- Hans India
Disappointed when Adani airport deal cancelled, they're credible partner: Kenya's Odinga
Nairobi: Kenya's former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Friday said he was disappointed when the Adani Group deal to expand and manage Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) got cancelled. On the second day of the National Executive Retreat in Karen here, Odinga said that should the deal have proceeded, it would have elevated Nairobi into a regional economic hub, as per local media. "I was very disappointed when we were not able to move on with the airport contract that was very unfortunate,' the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader was quoted as saying in the Nairobi Leo publication. Citing political manoeuvring as the key reason for the deal's collapse, he said: "Kenya is very strategically located. I was very disappointed when we were not able to move on with the airport contract... If that is not done, Nairobi will become dormant." Before the cancellation of the deal, Odinga was among the leaders who defended the Adani Group. Kenyan President William Ruto ordered the cancellation of the Adani-JKIA expansion deal as well as the Adani-Ketraco deal, while issuing the State of the Nation Address in Parliament on November 21, 2024. Odinga said that the country lost a strategic opportunity after the deal fell through, adding that Adani's capabilities surpass those of other firms in East Africa. "Adani is a credible partner. They have proven their capabilities in projects that surpass what we have seen in East Africa," he said. The Adani Group has been interested in investing in Kenya since 2010, but this interest was hindered by the lack of a proper legal framework for public-private partnerships (PPPs) at the time. "I want to say that there needs to be transparency when dealing with such issues; otherwise, we risk condemning very reputable companies… Do not condemn innocent companies that are engaged in legitimate commercial transactions," the Kenyan leader was quoted as saying.
Business Recorder
7 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Meloni trumpets plan to boost African economies at EU summit
ROME: Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni on Friday will host European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Rome for a summit aimed at boosting African economies in a bid to curb illegal migration to the bloc. Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritised cutting irregular immigration, has launched a 5.5-billion-euro ($6.3-billion) plan targeting 14 countries including Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and Senegal to support industries from energy to health care. Irregular border crossings detected into the European Union stood at 239,000 last year, down 38 percent from an almost 10-year peak in 2023, according to European border agency Frontex. Meloni's plan aims to strengthen trade relations between Italy and African nations in the energy sector particularly, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced Rome to seek new supplies of oil and gas. Rome also wants a stake in financing a railway line between Zambia and Angola, and is planning a 65-million-euro investment in biofuel production in Kenya. Kenyan President William Ruto has praised the plan as 'ambitious', but noted 'that investment alone is not enough' and African economies continue to be burdened by debt. African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat has also warned that the continent 'cannot rely solely on promises that are often broken'. Experts say that Italy has 'promised too much' by implying that these investments could reduce the number of migrants by creating jobs and growth. 'The funding that Italy can provide is not at the right scale,' Giovanni Carbone, head of the University of Milan's Africa programme, told AFP. The plan serves to benefit the interests of 'large companies in the Italian fossil fuel industry', said Simone Ogno from the NGO ReCommon. Italy's PM Meloni says not the right time yet for EU-US summit Major Italian companies are already involved in the plan, including oil giant Eni, electricity carrier Terna and agro-industrial group Bonifiche Ferraresi. Undocumented migration via the Central Mediterranean route – between North Africa and Italy – saw around 67,000 migrant arrivals in 2024, Frontex said, down 59 percent from the year prior.
TimesLIVE
9 hours ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Kenyan court sentences two men to 30 years in prison for aiding 2019 hotel attack
Al Shabaab regularly carries out attacks in Kenya to try to pressure the government to withdraw peacekeeping troops from Somalia, where al Shabaab is waging an insurgency to try to seize power. Prosecutors said Abdile and Ali helped two attackers obtain forged identity cards that allowed them to escape from a refugee camp and provided financial support. Abdile and Ali have 14 days to appeal their sentences. Delivering her ruling on Thursday, judge Diana Mochache said without their involvement, the attack may not have happened. 'Without financiers, facilitators and sympathisers, terrorists cannot actualise their activities,' Mochache said. In the January 2019 attack, gunmen stormed the Dusit complex in Nairobi, triggering an assault and siege that lasted more than 12 hours. The Kenyan government said at the time it had killed all the attackers.
Ya Biladi
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
Kenya National Assembly Speaker receives Polisario representative
Nearly a month after Kenya officially voiced support for Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, the Polisario's main ally in Nairobi has resurfaced. On Thursday, June 19, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetangula, met with the Polisario's representative in Kenya. «Today, I hosted His Excellency Mohamed-Liman Ali Ami, the Ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, who paid me a courtesy call at my office at Parliament Buildings», Wetangula posted. «Our discussions focused on strengthening the bilateral relationship between our two nations and exploring ways to deepen diplomatic engagement for the mutual benefit of our citizens. I assured the Ambassador that Kenya, as a committed member of the African Union (AU), stands in solidarity with the Sahrawi Republic and remains steadfast in supporting and safeguarding its interests as a sovereign state», he added. Wetangula is widely seen as the Polisario's key ally within the Kenyan government. According to an October 2022 report by the South African-based Institute for Security Studies, Wetangula, a former foreign minister, played a pivotal role in convincing President William Ruto to delete a tweet posted on September 14, 2022, in which he had announced Kenya's withdrawal of recognition of the «SADR». Wetangula is a powerful political figure in Kenya. He heads the FORD-Kenya party, a member of the Kenya Kwanza coalition that backed Ruto's successful 2022 presidential bid. Just weeks after Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch met with President Ruto in Dakar on January 26, 2023, Wetangula traveled to Algeria, where he met with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and reaffirmed his support for the Polisario. He reiterated this position again in November 2023, after several African political leaders signed the « Tangier Appeal » calling for the expulsion of the «SADR» from the African Union. Following a meeting with the Polisario representative in Nairobi, Wetangula stated, «I reassured him of my support, noting their membership in the AU, akin to our shared responsibility.» In contrast, during a working visit to Morocco in late May, Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi declared that «the Republic of Kenya considers the autonomy plan as the only sustainable approach to resolving the Sahara issue and intends to collaborate with states sharing this vision to promote its implementation». Just one day after that statement, Wetangula hosted the Algerian ambassador in Nairobi.
AsiaOne
12 hours ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Kenyan court sentences two men to 30 years in prison for aiding 2019 hotel attack, World News
NAIROBI — A Kenyan court on Thursday (June 19) sentenced two men to 30 years in prison for aiding a 2019 attack by militant members of the al Shabaab group on a hotel and office complex in Nairobi that killed 21 people. Hussein Mohammed Abdile and Mohamed Abdi Ali were convicted in May on charges of facilitation and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism for helping the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group. They had pleaded not guilty. Al Shabaab regularly carries out attacks in Kenya to try to pressure the government to withdraw peacekeeping troops from Somalia, where al Shabaab is waging an insurgency to try to seize power. Prosecutors said Abdile and Ali helped two of the attackers obtain forged identity cards that allowed them to escape from a refugee camp and provided financial support. Abdile and Ali have 14 days to appeal their sentences. Delivering her ruling on Thursday, Judge Diana Mochache said that without their involvement, the attack may not have happened. "Without financiers, facilitators and sympathisers, terrorists cannot actualise their activities," Mochache said. In the January 2019 attack, several gunmen stormed the Dusit complex in Nairobi, triggering an assault and siege that lasted more than 12 hours. The Kenyan government said at the time that it had killed all the attackers. [[nid:717570]]
