Nelson Amenia on why he revealed the details

Kenyan business student Nelson Amenya has been hailed as a hero by those calling for greater transparency in the deals his government makes with private firms.

Recent Kenyan history is littered with stories of huge contracts being awarded as a result of corruption – and despite laws meant to prevent it, there are suspicions that it continues to happen.

Thirty-year-old Mr Amenya, who is studying for an MBA in France, revealed details on social media in July of what he said was a proposed deal between Kenya and Indian multinational Adani Group.

It was about the management of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) – the largest airport in the country and the region, which has long been waiting for a complete renovation.

“The first feeling I had (when the documents were handed over to me) was that this was just another government deal… I didn’t understand the scale and seriousness of it,” Mr Amenya, whose profile as an anti-corruption activist was on the rise, says the BBC.

The documents detail the Adani Group’s offer to lease JKIA for $2bn (£1.6bn) over 30 years to upgrade and operate it.

When he started going through the papers, he felt that if it continued, it would “hurt the Kenyan economy” while all the benefits would go to the Indian multinational company.

The deal seemed unfair to him, according to what he had read, as Kenya would still contribute the largest share of the money but would not receive the financial benefits.

Mr Amenya had good reason to believe the documents were genuine because “the people who gave me these documents were from very legitimate government departments”, he says.

Adani Group is involved in infrastructure, mining and energy projects around the world, in countries such as Israel, UAE, France, Tanzania, Australia and Greece. Its founder Gautam Adani is a major player in the Indian economy and is a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After reading further, Mr Amenya says he discovered that Adani’s deal with Kenya could have left his country liable to pay the company if it failed to recoup its investment.

“It was a serious breach of public trust by the leadership of the president, the Kenya Airports Authority, the minister – they all betrayed the people,” he claims.

Despite the evidence in his hands, Mr Amenia struggled with what to do next. His own safety was at risk, although he found it better to be in France than in Kenya, where anti-corruption activists were targeted and some were killed.

“I was a little scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I’m risking my career, I’m risking my life, why should I risk doing this?’ he asked himself at the time.

However, in the end, he decided that staying silent was not an option.

– You know, only cowards live long.

After spending weeks reviewing what was sent to him, Mr Amenya leaked the documents to his X page in July, sparking immediate outrage in Kenya.

JKIA airport workers have gone on strike demanding the cancellation of the deal.

“It felt like a duty to me, to my country. Even if I am far away, I still have a duty to my country. I want to see a better Kenya, my home country that becomes developed, industrialized and corruption free. “

He worried that the airport deal was a harbinger of things to come.

Mr Amenya says that not only were the unusual conditions and lack of transparency alarming, he also claims that Kenyan laws appeared to be systematically ignored.

“(Authorities) never did due diligence on this company…they didn’t follow the proper procurement process.”

He alleges that some government officials hoped to circumvent legal requirements, including public consultation, that were supposed to prevent the misuse of taxpayers’ money.

An April Kenya Airports Authority report on the proposed deal highlighted that there was no plan for stakeholder consultation on the plan.

“That was in April and they didn’t make any public engagement until July when I disclosed it. This deal was quite secretive and by then they were only a month away from signing the deal,” Mr Amenya claims.

“After I disclosed this deal, they hastily tried to come and do a sham public engagement – they called Kenya Airports Authority officials and started holding meetings with stakeholders.”

Various officials and branches of the state have denied allegations of corruption in the process, and the authorities have gone ahead to sign another multimillion-dollar deal with the Adani Group – this time to build power lines.

The Adani Group said Mr Amenia’s claims were baseless and malicious.

A spokesperson told the BBC that “the proposal was submitted under Kenya’s public-private partnership rules and aimed to create a world-class airport and significantly improve Kenya’s economy by creating many new jobs.”

Adani Group further states that no contract has been signed as “discussions have not progressed to a binding agreement”.

The company also states that the energy deal proposal was unfounded and that the company “categorically denies all allegations and insinuations of any violation of Kenyan laws in our operations or proposals.

“Every project we undertake is driven by a strong commitment to compliance, transparency and the laws of the respective countries in which we operate,” the statement said.

But it wasn’t Mr. Ameni’s leak that actually changed the government’s decision.

It was only when US authorities charged Gautam Adani with his alleged involvement in a $250m (£200m) bribery scheme that Kenya began to act.

Representatives of the Adani Group denied the accusations of the American prosecutor’s office and called them “baseless”.

In an address to the nation in parliament last month, Kenyan President William Ruto announced the cancellation of both Adani agreements.

“Given indisputable evidence or credible information about corruption, I will not hesitate to take decisive action,” Ruto said in a speech that was met with loud applause in Parliament.

Kenyans celebrated the decision, which Ruta attributed to new information provided by investigative bodies and partner countries.

“I was in class when this announcement came. I couldn’t believe it,” says Mr Amenya.

“I think I had tears in my eyes for the first hour. I was so happy.”

Although he does not consider himself a hero, messages of support poured in from all over, including India.

Forty minutes after the class ended, he posted his now famous tweet, “Adios Adani!!” – goodbye Adani.

“It was important… Everything I did finally paid off.”

The sense of triumph, however, came after months of personal struggle and pressure.

Soon after the airport deal was exposed, an Adani Group representative and a Kenyan politician sued Mr. Amenya for defamation, prompting him to question whether he should continue.

“Some people from the government came to me, they were even ready to pay, they said: ‘We need to cash in and stop this struggle with the government,'” he recalls.

“Giving up would be the biggest mistake of my life, a betrayal of the Kenyan people.”

But even after canceling the deals, President Ruto is still questioning why Kenyans opposed this and many other projects he championed. He says he will find a way to upgrade the airport.

“I saw them saying that those who stopped the modernization of our airport are heroes. Heroes? What do you gain by stopping the construction of an airport in your country?” Ruto asked at a public event in early December.

“You have no idea how it’s going to be built, and those who oppose have never even set foot in an airport, you just want to oppose.”

Mr Amenya, who still faces defamation cases, is now raising funds to pay his legal fees and says his future in Kenya is uncertain.

“I have received threats from credible intelligence agencies and people in Kenya warning me not to come back because obviously there are some people who are very angry about what I have done,” he says.

A high price, but one Mr Amenya says he would happily pay again.

“We really don’t need to wait for someone to save us,” he says.