Kenyan business student Nelson Amenya has been hailed as a hero by those campaigning for greater transparency in the deals his government makes with private firms.
Recent Kenyan history is littered with stories of huge contracts that have resulted from corruption – and despite laws that are supposed to prevent this from happening, there are suspicions that it continues to take place.
Thirty-year-old Mr Amenya, who is studying in France for an MBA, leaked details on social media of what he said was a proposed agreement between Kenya and the Adani Group, an Indian multinational, in July.
It concerned the management of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) – the country’s – and region’s – biggest airport, which is long overdue a complete overhaul.
“The first feeling I had [when I was passed the documents] was that it was just another government deal… I did not understand the magnitude or the seriousness of it,” Mr Amenya, whose profile as an anti-corruption activist had been on the rise, tells the BBC.
The documents detailed a $2bn (£1.6bn) proposal by the Adani Group to lease JKIA for 30 years in order to modernise and run it.
As he started to go through the papers, he felt that if it was to go ahead, it “was going to hurt the Kenyan economy” while all the benefit would go to the Indian multinational.
The deal appeared unfair to him, according to what he read, as Kenya would still be putting in the largest share of the money but not reaping the financial rewards.
Mr Amenya had good reason to think the papers were genuine as “the people who were giving me these documents were from very legitimate departments of government”, he says.
The Adani Group is involved in infrastructure, mining and energy projects globally, in countries such as Israel, the UAE, France, Tanzania, Australia and Greece. Its founder Gautam Adani is a big player in India’s economy and is a close ally of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Through further reading, Mr Amenya says he discovered that the Adani deal with Kenya could have left his country with an obligation to pay the company if it did not recoup its investment.
“This was a great breach of trust of the people by the leadership of the president, the Kenya Airports Authority, the minister – they all betrayed the people,” he alleges.
Despite the evidence in his hands, Mr Amenya wrestled with what to do next. His own safety was at risk, though being in France he was better off than being in Kenya, where anti-corruption activists have been targeted and some killed.
“I was a bit scared. I didn’t know what’s going to happen. I’m risking my career, I’m risking my life, why should I take the risk to do this?” he asked himself at the time.
However, in the end he felt that staying quiet was not an option.
“You know, it’s only cowards who live long.”
After spending weeks going through what he had been sent, Mr Amenya leaked the documents on his X page in July, immediately sparking outrage in Kenya.
JKIA airport workers went on strike demanding that the deal be scrapped.
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