A few weeks ago, ex-Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who lost the March 4 presidential elections, also complained that President Kenyatta’s government had blocked him from using the VIP lounges, housed in JKIA.
And today, a huge fire gutted part of the airport, touching off the question: Could the Pattni and Odinga be blamed for the fire? Investigators are still scouring smouldering debris seeking the cause of the inferno that has sparked a rumour mill on the social media. The fire incident happened a day after Kenya Pipeline’s pumps and pipes failed to convey jet fuel, grounding several planes at JKIA, the largest airport in east and central Africa.
On August 1, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) repossessed shops partly owned by Pattni’s Diplomatic Free Duty Limited, saying the lease had expired.
In an interview with Modowo on August 4, Pattni said that God would avenge the injustice. And on Wednesday, fire guts the airport. “Why do you do things at night when you are following the law,” he said, in reference to the ejection.
Pattni, who sometimes goes by the name Brother Paul, added: “Power comes from God. If you will misuse (that power), God can get rid of you with a blink an eye … God forgive those who have done evil against me.”
On several occasions in the interview, the slippery businessman made numerous references to God, saying the Almighty would fight his battles and punish those who wrongly affront him.
The airport inferno started at 5.00 and consumed the international arrivals part of the airport where Pattni and his associates — whom he sometimes denies — ran multimillion shillings worth of free duty shops.
So far, Kenyan authorities are mum on the cause of the fire, but the social media have pointed alleged links between the Pattni interview, Odinga’s VIP lounge complaint and the mysterious fire.
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