Auditor General Gathungu raises alarm over expenditure in county stadiums

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has flagged the expenditure of millions of public funds in various sports projects by county governments.

In her report on County Government Executives for the financial year ending June 30, 2023, Ms Gathungu said it was impossible to prove value for money spent on most of the sports projects being undertaken by the devolved units.

She added that there was a violation of the law during the implementation of some of the projects, the contract prices for the construction of some of the facilities were unlawfully increased, and there was irregular payment of allowances to some of the players and officials.

Bukhungu Stadium (Kakamega), Masinde Muliro Stadium (Bungoma), Siaya Stadium, Raila Odinga Stadium (Homa Bay) and Mombasa County Stadium are among the facilities that have been flagged for the irregularities.

In the case of Bukhungu Stadium, Ms Gathungu noted that the value for money of more than Sh1 billion, which includes Sh175,950,266 paid to the contractor for the construction of the second phase of the arena cannot be proven.

The contract for the project was awarded on May 21, 2019, at a sum price of Sh2,927,721,199, with the completion date set for December 30, 2021.

But a physical inspection of the facility in October 2023 established that the project was only 45 percent complete, with the contractor not on site. 

“In the circumstances, value for money on the expenditure of Sh1,059,870,800 incurred on the construction of Bukhungu Stadium could be confirmed,” said Ms Gathungu.

Bukhungu Stadium is among the venues earmarked for the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (Chan) in September.

The Ministry of Sports has since partnered with the Kakamega County government to have the facility ready for the competition.

While Siaya Stadium was to be constructed at the tune of Sh394,661,767, the latest audit on the facility revealed that the contract price had irregularly been increased by Sh129,567,506, with a second contractor unlawfully being brought on board.

The new contract price for the construction of the facility was thus Sh524,229,273. But the value for money of Sh425,038,687 already wired to the two contractors building the stadium could not be confirmed and the works were behind schedule.

“There was no evidence of recommendations by an evaluation committee for these variations contrary to Section 139(1) and (2) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015,” stated the Auditor General.

The contract for the construction of Siaya Stadium was signed on August 30, 2018, with the works expected to be completed in December 2019.

The extended contract period lapsed in July 2023.

The pitch, main pavilion, terraces, amphitheater, installations of the electrical fittings, plumbing fittings, and the roof are the works, which were still pending as of September 2023.

The audit revealed that the contractor building the Masinde Muliro Stadium in Kanduyi had been overpaid.

The construction of the stadium was expected to take two years from June 14, 2019.But despite only 70 percent of work having been done as of September 2023, Bungoma County government had paid the contractor Sh582,849,313 or 86 percent of the contract price.

The total cost of the contract was Sh679,386,376.

“No explanation was provided on the overpayment against actual works done,” stated Ms Gathungu.

“It was also observed that the actual payments of Sh582, 849, 313 included Sh40,200,000 paid to preliminary expenses, which were not supported. The expenditure of Sh582,849,313 also included Sh10,000,000 paid as contingencies but was not supported by appraisal of work done.”

The auditor general further revealed that roofing works for the facility were subcontracted to another contractor to the tune of Sh96,822,150.

However, the subcontracting agreement between the main contractor and the sub-contractor was not provided for audit.

In the case of Raila Odinga Stadium, the auditor general noted: “The regularity and value for money on the expenditure Sh49,678,406 incurred on the project could not be confirmed.”

Ms Gathungu said that the accounting officer for the Mombasa County Stadium project irregularly suspended its contract, with completed works to the tune of Sh619,782,152 or approximately 35 percent.

The contract for the proposed development of Mombasa County Stadium to the tune of Sh1,768,183,999 was signed on December 21, 2018, with the completion date set for January 6, 2022.

The completion date was extended by 65 weeks to May 6, 2022.

The auditor general said that the suspension of the contract on April 15, 2022, was not proposed by the contract implementation team as required by law – “since it had not been appointed and was done before the end of extended completion date.”

She warned that the “project is exposed to risks of cost escalation and project termination.”

Ms Gathungu also said it was not possible to confirm the distribution of sports equipment and items worth Sh97, 120,233 by the Department of Gender, Youth, Sports, Culture and Tourism in Trans Nzoia county government.

This was because the “department did not have in place approved guidelines and procedures on the identification of beneficiaries, establishment of a distribution approach and system, determination and formation of distribution teams, pre-distribution reporting and post-distribution monitoring.”

In the other expenditure that has raised eyebrows the auditor general said payment of Sh12,730,000 to players, team managers, and coaches who represented Kiambu County in the ninth edition of the Kicosca games in Kisumu County in January 2023 could not be confirmed since the payments were not supported by any document including certificate of participation in the Kicosca or evidence of registration of teams and players.

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