The Bungoma Sports chief officer is in trouble for failing to give a substantive explanation over the destruction of a part of Masinde Muliro Stadium.
Carolyn Masete appeared before a Bungoma country assembly team over the destruction of a forest and the arena of the Masinde Muliro Stadium without following due process.
She failed to exonerate herself from blame before the Gender and Culture committee. The team is chaired by Mihuu MCA Violet Makhanu.
This prompted speaker Emmanuel Situma to direct that the matter be taken back to the committee on Gender and Culture, as well as the department of Tourism, Water and Natural resources for further probing.
The chief officer has been accused of single-handedly authorising the destruction of a mature forest at Masinde Muliro Stadium.
Masete is further accused of disposing of properties at the stadium without following the procurement and disposal laws.
The county is upgrading the stadium for Sh650 million without the knowledge of the conservator and the Works department.
In her response, Masete told the assembly all the indigenous trees at the arena, the gates and all other materials were sold for a paltry Sh200,000.
She told the committee that she formed a committee that decided on the prices. The main gate was sold for Sh2,000.
Deputy speaker Simiyu Wamusayi, who is Siboti MCA, said the chief officer failed to exonerate herself and it clearly showed that some prominent people in government shared the property at the stadium.
“We will not condone the behaviour of a county government sharing public resources with impunity. This is a clear abuse of the law,” he said.
Bungoma county conservator Joseph Njoroge said the county and national governments had lost revenue that could not be quantified.
"It is clear there was a breach of the law and some people looted the old stadium,” said.
The Public Works department and head of supply chain management were not informed about the matter.
Joseph Nyongesa, the Tuuti/Marakaru MCA, said he is not satisfied with Masete's responses, which were full of glaring lapses and fabrications. He said the chief officer should be held culpable for the loss of revenue.
A report will then be given within 21 days after which the chief officer will either be implicated or exonerated from the accusations.
Last month, members of the civil society led by the Centre for Human Rights Watch CEO Phillip Wekesa demanded that the chief officer be arrested and taken to court for destroying public property.
“The chief officer flouted due process and irregularly awarded the JustFamily Investment Company a letter to clear the site without authority from the conservator,” Wekesa said.
Normally, the chief officer should write a letter to the Ministry of Environment who should liaise with the Kenya Forest Service for valuation purposes.
The KFS upon receiving of the letter from the Environment ministry works with the project manager (chief officer for roads and public works) to look at the design of the project.
Upon completion of the assessment of the design, the KFS is mandated to advice the number of trees that should be cut down and the value.
After the end of the valuation, the project manager and the KFS hand over the report to the user department (the ministry of Sports, Gender and Culture) who will then forward the report to the head of the supply chain management to source for a buyer.
The process takes two weeks and once the buyer has been identified, the proceeds of the forest will be paid to the county and the national treasuries.
