Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot on Thursday hit back at the Adani whistleblower over allegations that he helped secure the deal between Adani Holdings and the government to facilitate the takeover of the proposed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Speaking during the Senate session, Cheruiyot maintained that the allegations were malicious and meant to taint his name.
Cheruiyot was responding to allegations made by Nelson Amenya, the prime whistleblower on the Adani- Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) deal, while appearing on KTN News on Wednesday night.
The Senator revealed that he will consider taking legal action against the whistleblower who linked him with the Adani Holdings Limited deal.
Sports CS Kipchumba Murkomen (on phone) and Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot.
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Aaron Cheruiyot
‘’If we are to demand accountability, you cannot fight corruption by means of character assassination, and to that gentleman, my lawyers will be reaching out to him,’’ declared the Senator.
Cheruiyot maintained that he did not in any way help the Adani Group secure a deal with the government and that the allegations against him were out of bad taste.
The lawmaker also added that he had no connection and had never met any representative, contrary to the claims that he traveled to India before introducing the representatives of Adani to the government.
‘’I want to put it in record that I don’t work for Kenya Airports Authority or the Ministry of Transport and I therefore don’t know why somebody can allege that I helped broker a deal between Kenya and another foreign entity,’’ Cheruiyot stated.
‘’I have never met the owners and the management of that entity and as for such, I have worked extremely hard in my life to protect my image,’’ he added.
The senator also threw jabs at the media which he claimed did not handle the claims in a professional manner by broadcasting the allegations.
‘’What happened to the editorial policy of our media houses? If you go to international media houses like the BBC, their policy states that they delay their broadcasting for certain durations to weed out such claims,’’ he noted.
Amenya had dared the Senator to respond to the allegations if he was honest enough about links to the Indian company.
The deal has been a subject of controversy with Adani Group hitting back over some individuals it claimed were out to tarnish its name and threatening to take legal action over them.
‘’We strongly condemn this deceitful act and urge everyone to disregard these fake fraudulent releases completely. We will take legal action against anyone involved in spreading false narratives,’’ Adani Group warned.
India’s Adani Group office
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Nikkei Asia
