Parliament has launched an inquiry into a multimillion-shilling international sports academy due to concerns that taxpayers may have lost money through unjustifiable cost variations. The National Assembly’s Public Investment, Administration and Agriculture committee, chaired by Navakholo MP Emmanuel Wangwe, is investigating how the contract cost for the International Sports Centre in Kasarani increased from an initial Ksh 859,814,770 to Ksh 1.03 billion.
Wangwe emphasized the need for a thorough investigation, stating, “I feel we need to open a full inquiry into the project so that we get the actual cost of the project. We will convert this discussion into an inquiry where all the parties will be invited to testify.”
The sports centre was highlighted by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, who raised questions about the payments made that exceeded the agreed contract amount. According to her 2018-19 audit findings, as of June 2019, management had paid Ksh 1,036,445,457, which is Ksh 176,630,687 more than the contract sum.
Gathungu noted that at the time of payment, the project’s completion level was estimated at 90 percent, leading her to question the validity of the contract variation, as it could not be confirmed.
The project’s scope included constructing a hostel, a two-floor dormitory, two football pitches, two basketball courts, a rugby pitch, and a borehole. Originally, the project was managed by the Sports Stadia Management Board, now known as Sports Kenya, before the mandate was transferred to the Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS).
Appearing before the Wangwe-led committee on Tuesday, KAS chief executive officer Doreen Odhiambo said her efforts to get documents from Sports Kenya have been unsuccessful.
She admitted that KAS made payments without obtaining the bills of quantities, a move the team said was irregular.
“We must treat this organisation as hostile. There are documents they are hiding from us. You can’t vary cost of the project without BQ. What then is the basis of the variation?” Suna West MP Peter Masara posed.
On the overpayment, Odhiambo said the contractor’s fee was not included in the initial project.
“In the conceptual stages of the project, Sports Stadia Management Board engaged services of private consultants to develop architectural designs, bills of quantities and supervise implementation of the entire project, ” Odhiambo told the committee.
