Wait goes on for completion of Sh350m Dandora Stadium

Nairobi residents will have to wait for at least two months to have the stalled Sh350 million new Dandora Stadium ready for use.

This is after acting Nairobi Governor Ann Kananu said her administration will only move to begin the remaining works at the stadium after an ongoing probe by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is dispensed with.

EACC has been investigating alleged irregularities in the procurement process for the construction of the stadium since 2019.

However, the Commission last week distanced itself from the stalled works at the stadium saying the ongoing probe should not be used by City Hall as a basis of stopping any works at the stadium.

Speaking at City Hall on Monday, Ms Kananu said they are waiting for the Commission to clear the investigations before taking the next step.

“We all know that there is a case at EACC so I would not really want to talk much about it. We are waiting for the EACC to clear the processes and as a county government we are sure that once the case is cleared, Dandora Stadium will be in place,” said Ms Kananu.

The stance by the acting governor means that any work at the stadium will only commence after two months when the anti-graft agency is expected to hand over the final report of the ongoing probe.

Appearing before the Senate’s Labour and Social Welfare committee last week, EACC said they are fast tracking the probe by dedicating a team of officers to bring a closure to the matter within two months.

Mr David Too, EACC Director Legal Services and Asset Recovery, informed the Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja-led committee that they have at no time instructed City Hall nor the contractor to stop work at the stadium.

This was after Nairobi Education and Sports CEC Janet Ouko said that they were waiting for EACC and Public Procurements Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to finalise the matter to clear the county to proceed with the works or terminate the contract and then retender the work.

The stadium’s construction began in June, 2018 as part of four stadia that the county, then under the leadership of Governor Mike Sonko and was to take 18 months but stopped after the probe began with the contractor leaving site on September, 2019.

This followed dispute between City Hall and the contractor over deviation in the administration of the contract instead of concrete contractor used steel bars on the terraces.

In February this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that the county government to complete the construction of the stadium, even as probe into the project continues.

The President said the contractor should come back on site and complete the remaining piece of work for residents to benefit from the project.