Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has said the government has put adequate measures in place to ensure the completion of all stalled stadia. 

Ababu was responding to a question by Marsabit County Senator Mohammed Chute on the status of the construction of Marsabit Stadium. 

During a plenary session at the Senate on Wednesday, Chute asked the Cabinet Secretary to avail information regarding the construction of Marsabit Stadium, the tender process, the total number of contractors that submitted bids, who won the award, and the total value of the awarded bid. 

“From the outset, it is important to note that Marsabit is among myriad stalled projects under the last administration,” Ababu said. 

“The facilities include Wote Stadium in Makueni County, Karatu Stadium in Kiambu County, Ruring’u Stadium in Nyeri County, Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Uasin Gishu County, and Kamariny Stadium in Elgeyo Marakwet County,” he added. 

The CS said their evaluation exposed laxity in handling the projects, thus the delay in their completion. 

“Our preliminary assessment when we came to the office one year ago revealed that a key factor that led to the stalling of these projects was haphazard and incoherent selection of projects, inexplicable logic in project prioritization, lack of synchronisation between the availability of funds and project commencement, and grave lapses in transparency, accountability, and technical supervision.”

Ababu said the government made two substantive interventions based on a preliminary assessment it had conducted. 

“We invited the Auditor General to conduct a forensic audit to empirically determine the causes of the stalling of these projects,” Ababu remarked. 

“Two, we developed a comprehensive Sports Infrastructure Master plan to guide this space in a logical, coherent, and organized manner.”

He noted: “The Master Plan has three pillars: International Stadia; Regional Stadia with priority on completing stalled projects and community grounds to include academies.”

“Marsabit Stadium is among the projects we subjected to the special audit, which we are informed the office of the Auditor General is in the process of concluding.”

Speaking on the Procedure for the Tender Process and Awarding of Marsabit Stadium Construction Contract, the CS said information from Sports Kenya indicates that procurement for the construction of Marsabit Stadium was ostensibly conducted under the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2015.

“On November 28, 2016, the tender was advertised on the Sports Kenya website, and interested contractors were invited to collect the tender documents.”

“The tender submission period closed on December 13, 2016, and a tender opening committee was appointed as required by Sections 78 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015 which provides for the appointment of the Tender opening committee.”