A fortnight ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta slammed the management of Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) for leasing five buses that transport passengers within the airport at an outrageous cost of Sh11 million per month.
He then had this proposal: “Why don’t you come and I give you NYS buses at Sh100,000?”
It has now emerged that the President’s seemingly viable proposal cannot work.
Jaindi Kisero, a managing editor at Daily Nation, says the apron buses are specialised machines that are manufactured and assembled to the specifications and safety standards stipulated by both the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Air Transport Association.
In contrast, the NYS buses are normal vehicles that operate on the roads.
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“The pertinent issue in the whole saga is whether or not the KAA negotiated a good deal and whether the agreement signed represented value for money,” he adds.
The Daily Nation editor, quoting procurement papers, says the cost will be passed on to airline operators and not KAA.
A furious President Kenyatta directed KAA chairman David Kimaiyo to ensure the people responsible for theft of public resources at the parastatal are brought to book. Six top KAA officials were suspended as a result.
“I find it impossible to believe and to understand that you can say that you have buses you pay Sh11 million a month,” President Kenyatta said.
“We cannot sustain this. You must use resources properly and those who did this must be taken to court and they must return the public money.”
