• Wario told magistrate Elizabeth Juma that if he had any role, he would be charged with loss of public revenue property, which he has not been charged with.
• He said it was not sufficient for the prosecution to allege in a blanket manner that there was no prior planning.
Image: FILE
Former Sports CS Hassan Wario has said he did not have a hand in the procurement and cancellation of air tickets that led to the loss of public funds in the Rio Olympics graft case.
Wario told magistrate Elizabeth Juma that if he had any role, he would be charged with loss of public revenue property, which he has not been charged with.
In his submissions before the court, the former CS said he had a role in ensuring that anti-doping laws were passed and that the image of Kenya in the international arena was positive.
The investigating officer in the case had raised issues of poor planning of travel plans and air tickets, but Wario on Tuesday maintained he had no role in procuring the air tickets.
He said it was not sufficient for the prosecution to allege in a blanket manner that there was no prior planning.
Wario said the prosecution did not call any athlete as witness to give a first-hand account of the planning and preparation of the Rio Olympics.
On the charge of engaging in a project without prior planning, the investigating officer testified that the only reason Wario was charged over it, was because he attended two of the steering committee meetings.
But Wario said he is neither the chairman nor a member of the steering committee. This, according to him, was admitted by all the prosecution witnesses.
He relied on two reports – “Report of Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics Probe Committee-Kenya” which sets out the composition of the steering committee and “Team Kenya Handbook for Rio 2016”. The two reports show that Wario was not a member of the steering committee.
“I had no planning responsibility in the steering committee,” he said.
He submitted that none of the accused should be charged for the offence of lack of prior planning as being members of the steering committee.
The steering committee, Wario said, was not gazetted, and the prosecution has not adduced any gazette notice laying out the mandate of the team.
Wario has been accused of failing to plan for the games as a member of the steering committee.
But on Tuesday he told the court that the committee was not tasked with the planning of the Olympics.
“The committee does not have the mandate to plan and organise for the Olympics,” he said.
On the charge of using his office to improperly confer a benefit to Richard Abura and Monica Nkina by including them on the list of the delegation that travelled to Rio, Brazil, for the Olympics, Wario said the two had a critical role in the Rio Olympics.
“I had the power to authorise the travel of Richard and Monica to carry out communications functions for the Olympics,” he said.
The court heard that at the time of the Olympics, Kenya was facing negative publicity over doping, and it was crucial for the ministry to have employees in charge of communication.