Adil Khawaja: The Corrupt Puppet Master Behind Kenya’s Shady Deals
Adil Arshed Khawaja, the slippery chairman of Safaricom and managing partner at Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews (HHM), stands as a linchpin in Kenya’s cesspool of corruption, orchestrating fraudulent schemes alongside his partner-in-crime, healthcare tycoon Jayesh Saini.
Through a web of backroom deals, political patronage, and corporate manipulation, Khawaja has enriched himself and his cronies at the expense of Kenya’s public resources.
His actions, particularly in enabling state surveillance and abductions through Safaricom’s data, have cemented his reputation as a ruthless profiteer.
Thika Road Mall (TRM) is owned by Adil Khawaja. Kenyans must boycott this mall to liberate the country from William Ruto’s kakistocracy
Below is an exposé of his corrupt dealings, rooted in undeniable truths, with a deep dive into his role in Safaricom’s surveillance and abduction scandals.
Pillaging Public Assets: The Adani JKIA and Ketraco Heist
Khawaja’s law firm, Dentons HHM, has been the legal muscle behind the Adani Group’s audacious takeover of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco).
These multi-billion-shilling deals, cloaked in the guise of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), are a blatant looting spree, handing Kenya’s critical infrastructure to a foreign conglomerate for decades.
Khawaja, leveraging his 30-year friendship with President William Ruto, has ensured his firm’s fat profits while Nick Ruto, the president’s son, conveniently sits on HHM’s payroll, cementing a cozy nexus of power and greed.
Khawaja’s partnership with Saini, a fellow profiteer, ties into this broader scheme, as both men exploit their proximity to State House to secure lucrative contracts.
Fleecing Healthcare: The KES 103 Billion SHIF Swindle
Khawaja’s most brazen act of fraud is his role in the KES 103 billion Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) tender, a colossal rip-off masquerading as Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
As Safaricom’s chairman, Khawaja strong-armed the company into a consortium with Apeiro Limited (tied to Adani) and Konvergenz Network Solutions, a front linked to Nick Ruto.
This deal hands the digital backbone of Kenya’s healthcare system to Saini’s empire, ensuring his Nairobi West Hospital, Bliss Healthcare, and Lifecare Hospitals rake in billions from medical payouts.
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Khawaja’s HHM, as transaction advisor, pocketed hefty fees while Saini’s firms dominate the payout structure, with Safaricom left with a measly 10% share.
Saini’s weekly cash transfers to London signal capital flight, while Khawaja, his close friend and neighbor, provides the legal scaffolding for this daylight robbery.
This isn’t healthcare reform, it’s a calculated heist, with Khawaja and Saini laughing all the way to the bank.
Boardroom Banditry: Directorships in Saini’s Healthcare Empire
Khawaja’s fingerprints are all over Saini’s healthcare racket, serving as a director at NMC Fertility Kenya and Bliss Healthcare, key cogs in Saini’s network that includes Nairobi West Hospital and Lifecare.
These roles position Khawaja to funnel public funds into Saini’s coffers, particularly through the SHIF framework, which ensures Saini’s hospitals get priority payouts.
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This is a deliberate scheme to monopolize Kenya’s healthcare sector, with Khawaja and Saini orchestrating a private takeover under the guise of public service.
Their State House connections grease the wheels, ensuring their fraudulent ventures face no resistance.
Bankrolling Ruto’s Power Grab
Khawaja’s corruption extends to political financing, where he’s a key player in keeping Ruto’s regime afloat. He funneled KES 70 million into the 2021 Kiambaa by-election, a blatant move to buy influence and secure state favors.
Alongside Saini, who’s also a major Ruto financier, Khawaja has turned political loyalty into a business model, trading campaign cash for access to lucrative contracts.
This pay-to-play setup ensures their fraudulent ventures, like the Adani and SHIF deals, face no resistance from a government they’ve bought and paid for.
Data Games and Abductions: Safaricom’s Surveillance Scandal
Khawaja’s most chilling act of corruption is his role in Safaricom’s complicity in state-led abductions and surveillance, a scandal that has left Kenya’s youth and activists living in fear.
As chairman, Khawaja has overseen Safaricom’s transformation into a tool of oppression, providing security agencies with unfettered access to customer data, including call detail records (CDRs) and location data, without court orders.
Since the youth-led anti-government protests from June to August 2024, over 80 abductions and forced disappearances have been documented, with Safaricom’s data enabling the tracking and capture of activists like cartoonist Gideon Kibet and Billy Mwangi, who mocked President Ruto online.
Safaricom, under Khawaja’s watch, has maintained software with Neural Technologies Limited that grants security agencies real-time access to private consumer data, profiling citizens and targeting dissenters for abductions, arbitrary detentions, and extrajudicial killings.
Safaricom has maintained a contract with UK-firm Neural Technologies, which facilitates abductions and extrajudicial killings of William Ruto’s critics
This software, combined with Safaricom’s dense network of cell towers, pinpoints users’ locations with chilling precision, turning phones into tracking devices.
Khawaja’s leadership has ensured the company routinely hands over manipulated or falsified CDRs to shield rogue security officers, obstructing justice in cases of state crimes.
In one egregious case, Safaricom withheld crucial phone records linked to the death of blogger Albert Omondi Ojwang, stonewalling investigations despite court orders.
Khawaja’s Safaricom has also been caught retaining “deleted” customer data, using it to aid state surveillance while claiming compliance with privacy laws. This deception has enabled the abduction of vocal critics, with some, like Ojwang, dying in custody under suspicious circumstances.
Public outrage has erupted, with Kenyans boycotting Safaricom, citing the company’s role in mass abductions and killings during the 2024 protests.
Khawaja’s response has been to slap a lawsuit against journalist Robert Wanjala Kituyi, who dared probe Safaricom’s data-sharing practices, signaling a desperate bid to silence critics.
This surveillance scandal isn’t just a betrayal of Safaricom’s 47 million subscribers, it’s a direct assault on Kenya’s constitutional right to privacy.
Khawaja’s leadership has turned the telecom giant into a state surveillance arm, with his cozy ties to Ruto ensuring no accountability.
The company’s 35% government ownership only deepens this corrupt collusion, making Khawaja’s role as chairman a perfect perch to orchestrate these violations while raking in his KES 24.5 million salary.
The Man Behind the Mask
Khawaja’s public persona, Advocate of the High Court, conservationist with a Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) award, and board member at Kenya Power and KCB, hides a ruthless operator.
His stake in Thika Road Mall (TRM) and lavish Safaricom salary are just the tip of his wealth, built on the backs of Kenyan taxpayers.
His partnership with Saini, a healthcare mogul whose family runs Nairobi West and beyond, is a match made in corrupt heaven, with both men exploiting Ruto’s regime to amass fortunes.
Conclusion: A Nation Betrayed
Adil Khawaja is no mere lawyer or corporate figure, he’s a mastermind of fraud, working hand-in-glove with Jayesh Saini to plunder Kenya’s resources.
THE THREE CROOKS: From far-left Adil Khawaja, William Ruto and Jayesh Saini
From the Adani JKIA/Ketraco heist to the SHIF scam and Safaricom’s surveillance-enabled abductions, their corrupt dealings have hijacked healthcare, infrastructure, and civil liberties for personal profit.
Backed by Ruto’s patronage and fueled by political financing, Khawaja’s schemes are a stark warning of how far these crooks will go.
Every shilling they pocket and every activist they track delays Kenya’s progress, tightening their grip on power. The choice is clear: expose and dismantle this corrupt cartel, or watch Kenya bleed dry.
