Former Uhuru PS calls JKIA a ‘makeshift warehouse’
Former Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau has come under heavy criticism following a post condemning the state of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Macharia spoke to X and said that it gets depressing when you arrive at JKIA from a trip abroad, especially people from developed countries.
He said the situation is worse when you enter the airport terminal, which he said looks like a makeshift warehouse.
“Sometimes one arrives home from an international trip, say from Dubai, and one looks out the window of the plane at the depressing and chaotic urban sprawl and then gets into the makeshift warehouse that is the terminal and one just wants to weep. It’s like we are still in the stone age,” Kamau posted.
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His criticism comes weeks after Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport Kipchumba Murkomen CS blamed the Jubilee government of former President Uhuru Kenyatta for the leaking roof of the recently renovated international terminals 1C and 1E at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Mr Murkomen claimed that the previous regime had presided over projects with substandard work.
His statement came after a viral video showed flooded floors at the international departure terminals, where passengers queue to check in before traveling abroad.
The roof was falling apart, and staff had placed containers on the floor to collect the rain water, but it was an exercise in futility.
CS Murkomen also claimed that the leaking roofs resulted from burst water pipes in the terminal’s ceiling.
Two weeks ago, the CS formed an 11-member committee to investigate the state of Kenya’s airports and make recommendations within 28 days.
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Speaking after a tour of JKIA) in Nairobi on November 15, Mr Murkomen said the team had been mandated to identify immediate remedial measures to improve facilities and passenger comfort at JKIA, Wilson, and Moi International Airport in Mombasa.
“The experience over the past few months has raised questions about the state of our airport infrastructure facilities and I have therefore formed a technical committee to investigate the state of our airports,” he said.
He added that the terms of reference would be to access the state of infrastructure facilities, access the state of electro-mechanical facilities, review the work carried out by contractors over the last two years, and identify immediate remedial action to be taken.