Parliament has launched an inquiry into a multimillion-shilling international sports academy amid concerns that taxpayers may have lost money due to unjustifiable cost variations.
The National Assembly’s Public Investment, Administration and Agriculture committee has recommended a thorough investigation to determine how the contract cost for the International Sports Centre in Kasarani escalated from the original Sh859,814,770 to Sh1.03 billion.
Committee chair Emmanuel Wangwe, MP for Navakholo, expressed dissatisfaction with the explanations provided regarding the increase in contract costs.
“I believe we need to conduct a full inquiry into the project to ascertain its actual costs,” Wangwe stated. “We will turn this discussion into an inquiry where all relevant parties will be invited to testify.”
The Auditor General, Nancy Gathungu, flagged the sports centre, questioning how payments exceeded the agreed contract sum.
“As of June 2019, management had made payments totaling Sh1,036,445,457 against the original contract sum of Sh859,814,770,” Gathungu noted in her 2018-19 audit findings, indicating an overpayment of Sh176,630,687 despite the project being estimated at 90% completion at the time of payment.
“Given the circumstances, the validity of the contract variation could not be confirmed,” Gathungu added.
The project included the construction of a hostel, a two-story building, two football pitches, two basketball courts, a rugby pitch, and a borehole.
Initially overseen by the Sports Stadia Management Board, now known as Sports Kenya, the project’s mandate was later transferred to the Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS).
During her appearance before the committee, KAS CEO Doreen Odhiambo reported difficulties in obtaining documents from Sports Kenya.
She acknowledged that KAS had made payments without securing the bills of quantities, which the committee deemed irregular.
“We must consider this organization as uncooperative. They are withholding documents from us. You cannot change the project costs without the bills of quantities. What justifies the variations?” questioned Suna West MP Peter Masara.
Regarding the overpayment, Odhiambo explained that the contractor’s fees were not included in the initial project scope.
“During the project’s conceptual stages, the Sports Stadia Management Board engaged private consultants for architectural designs, bills of quantities, and overall project supervision,” Odhiambo told the committee.
