Members of the senate want Kenya Airways senior officials to take responsibility for the annual losses at the national carrier and to the held to account.
During FY’2022 financial results, Kenya Airways (KQ) recorded a Loss after tax of Kshs 38.3 billion, which is a significant 141.0% increase from the loss after tax of Kshs 15.9 billion in FY’2021.
The performance, the 10th year of straight losses since 2012 leaves a lot of questions on so many people’s minds: The government which has guaranteed Kshs 77.8 billion of Kenya Airways debt, the taxpayer, who will shoulder this debt and the shareholder, who bought shares in the “Pride of Africa” whose trading remains suspended since June 2020.
In this regard, senators said frequent bailouts of Kenya Airways by the government have turned it into a cash cow for unscrupulous individuals. The legislators now want investigations to be opened into the airline’s operations.
Read:KQ Risks Losing KES 310m Deposit with Boeing Corporation
This comes after Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei sought a statement on KQ’s current operational and financial status. Its net loss has more than doubled to hit a record Kshs 38.3 billion in the financial year ended December due to a rise in financing costs after the government took over servicing one of the dollar-denominated loans.
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah regretted that the government has continued to pump money into KQ without holding any person accountable for the losses.
Senator Omtatah added that officials responsible for the losses should be prosecuted and forced to repay the funds. He cited the sale of a special landing slot at Heathrow Airport to Oman Airways in 2016 at about Kshs 7.0 billion. He questioned who authorised the sale and whether the official had the mandate from Kenyans to go ahead with the deal.
Mandera Senator Ali Roba wondered how the national carrier continuously makes losses yet it records more than 96 percent seat occupancy at any given time with costly tickets.
The legislators now allege that KQ losses were a deliberate ploy to get more bailouts and demand senior officials to be charged.
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