Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata has sharply condemned a new multi-billion shilling contract to modernise the country’s main airport, labelling it significantly worse than the collapsed Adani Group concession.

Speaking on Wednesday night, June 17, 2026, during a TV interview, Kang’ata warned that the fresh deal to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) places billions of shillings of public funds at direct risk.

“For me, when I compare this deal and Adani, assuming somebody asked me which one I would choose. Neither is a good deal, but I’d definitely choose the Adani deal; this is worse,” Kang’ata said during the broadcast.

The controversy centres on a newly re-tendered modernisation project for JKIA, which the Kenyan government initiated after a public outcry and legal challenges led to the collapse of a planned concession with India’s Adani Group.

While the Adani deal drew criticism over its structure and transparency, Kang’ata argued that its financial risk largely rested on the private entity rather than Kenyan taxpayers.

He said the new arrangement appears to shift that burden onto the public.

“The Adani deal was private; it was an entity doing construction using its own money and getting a concession to recoup that money. The taxpayer was not paying anything,” Kang’ata said.

“This one is the very opposite; the infrastructure fund is being used to fund this expansion of the airport. It means it is public money; if the deal goes wrong, the public loses money.”

Public debate over the aviation project has intensified following reports on the composition of the winning consortium.

The tender is said to have been awarded to a group led by a state-owned Chinese company.

However, critics and civil society groups have raised concerns over the inclusion of a firm owned by a Zimbabwean businessman who has previously been linked in public reports to controversy over business dealings in his home country.

Critics have described the arrangement as a possible “fronting structure” aimed at benefiting politically connected interests.

The businessman has recently been a frequent and highly visible visitor in Nairobi, fuelling public speculation that his company’s inclusion in the project may have been politically influenced due to his reported close ties to Kenya’s political elite.

Kang’ata’s public criticism of the JKIA deal is notable given his standing as an influential political figure within the Mount Kenya region.

Having recently aligned himself with the Linda Mwananchi faction, his remarks add to growing political scrutiny of the airport expansion project ahead of the 2027 election cycle.