• In their pre-election manifesto, Uhuru and Ruto pledged to set up a modern stadium in every county.
• Sports Kenya says money allocated each year is not what the Treasury releases.
Image: VICTOR IMBOTO
President Uhuru Kenyatta's promise that each of the 47 counties will have a state-of-the-art sports stadium remains just a promise.
Documents tabled in Parliament on Tuesday painted a picture of abandoned projects with cartels taking advantage of system failures to bleed the undertaking.
In their pre-election manifesto, President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto pledged to set up modern stadia. Almost eight years later, nothing is on the ground.
Sports Kenya painted a picture of a lost hope before the National Assembly’s Sports committee chaired by Victor Munyaka (Machakos Town), citing budget gaps that have led to the abandonment of sites by contractors.
Sports Kenya is charged with, amongst others, the management of stadia across the country.
Seven stadia were to be upgraded and developed to global standards while four others would also be upgraded for the country to comply with the requirements of the African Nations Championship (CHAN).
The seven regional stadia include are Kipchoge Keino (Uasin Gishu), Kamariny (Elgeyo Marakwet), Wote (Makueni), Marsabit, Ruring’u (Nyeri), Kirubia (Tharaka Nithi) and Karatu (Embu).
The other four (they were being worked on in preparation for the botched 2018 CHAN tournament) are Nyayo, Kinoru, Kasarani and Kipchoge Keino (Phase II).
“Sports Kenya embarked on a number of projects during the second Medium Term Plan (MTP II) between 2012 and 2017. They were aligned to the National Vision 2030 and the Jubilee government manifesto,” director general Pius Metto told the committee.
It is during that period that Kenya secured hosting rights for CHAN.
MPs also heard that state officials colluded with contractors and descended on the multi-million-shilling projects, finding innovative ways of siphoning off millions further diminishing hopes to realise Uhuru’s flagship project.
For instance, Sports Kenya paid Sh88 million to clear bushes at the proposed Marsabit Stadium, something Metto admitted was illegal.
“In Marsabit when you look at what has been paid and what is on the ground, it is not commensurate. My office and officers from Public Works are going back to the ground to do re-measurement of the real work done and money so far paid,” he said.
The Munyaka-led committee also questioned how some contractors who had abandoned the sites were considered for additional tenders.
Metto said works on the 11 projects have either stalled halfway or have not picked up due to cash constraints.
Details captured in his submission also showed a neglected project with the amount of money allocated fluctuating each financial year.
For instance, in 2016-17, the project was allocated Sh2.7 billion but only Sh424 million was released by the Treasury.
In 2017-18, things got worse with the project allocated a paltry Sh100 million with the Treasury disbursing a quarter of the allocation to Sports Kenya.
This year's allocation is Sh500 million, but none of it has been released.
The committee directed the agency to re-inspect all the 11 facilities and write a fresh report within two weeks.
Edited by R.Wamochie