National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has rejected media reports suggesting that the planned expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) could cost about US$2.9 billion, saying the published estimates are wrong and that the project cost he has seen is much lower.
Mbadi said the government figure available to him puts the cost at about US$1.2 billion, adding that the expansion would not put pressure on Kenya’s sovereign debt.
He also said the JKIA expansion is among the projects being considered for financing through the National Infrastructure Fund.
Mbadi criticized parts of the media for circulating the higher cost estimates.
“On Senator Onyonka, I know it has been reported that JKIA is going to cost about 2.9 billion figures flying around, I saw 2.9 billion U.S. dollars. The figure that I know is half of that, 1.2. And so you don’t rely on figures that are flying around, and especially in some print media, some specific newspapers, because, of course, some newspapers for three years now, their headline are always consistent and predictable, so we don’t worry much about those ones, because they also have a responsibility to inform or misinform Kenyans,” Mbadi said.
“But that, I will tell you, is not going to put any strain on our sovereign debt. And if you want the information about that, either my counterparts at the transport can provide that information, or the government, even through me, can provide that information. But this is one of the candidates for the National Infrastructure Fund. And I will tell you that there will be no sovereign debt, as of now, that will be put here.”
Mbadi reiterated that the JKIA project is being considered under the National Infrastructure Fund framework, saying no sovereign debt would be committed to the project at this stage.