An audit of Sports Kenya has revealed that the agency does not hold proper land ownership documents for major national assets, including the Kasarani Stadium.
The findings emerged when officials from Sports Kenya appeared before the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture (PIC-SSAA) to respond to audit queries on billions of shillings allegedly wasted on incomplete or abandoned projects.
According to the audit, Sports Kenya admitted it is still seeking ownership documents for the more than 200-acre parcel hosting Kasarani Stadium through the National Land Commission.
MPs expressed shock on learning that the government had already spent millions of shillings on consultancy and planning for three proposed national stadiums in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Eldoret, estimated to cost Ksh42 billion, despite the absence of formal land titles.
Records presented to the committee showed that Ksh99.6 million was spent on a feasibility study, while an additional Ksh57 million went into architectural and project management services. Yet, none of the projects have ever broken ground.
Committee Vice-Chairperson Caleb Amisi (Saboti) questioned how the government could justify spending such vast sums on consultancy for projects without securing land ownership.
Appearing before the Committee, Sports Kenya’s Acting Director General, Gabriel Komora, and senior management faced tough questions on the audit queries dating back to the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 financial years.
The projects were allocated funds under the Vision 2030 and the Sports Act 2013, with the parliamentarians warning that i the projects continue to stall, they could turn into wasted investments leading to loss of taxpayers’ money.
Meanwhile, the MPs also discovered that the government had inflated the construction of other stadiums, with the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret, initially contracted at Ksh109.7 million, having soared to Ksh355.1 million, a rise of over 200 per cent.
On this, Sports Kenya management failed to provide a clear answer and was directed to produce documents for a new Ksh3.5 billion rehabilitation contract at the stadium.
Additionally, it emerged that there were also questionable expenditures within the department, including payment of Ksh24.4 million to a Moscow football club.
