Sonko in hot soup over Sh350m scam
Woes facing former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko seem to be far from over after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission unearthed irregularities in the procurement processes for Sh350 million construction of Dandora stadium.
In a report to the Senate Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, the anti-graft body reveals massive flaws in the procurement process of the project.
“Investigations have established a number of irregularities in the procurement process in relation to the contract discharge and administration phase,” the agency’s CEO Twalib Mbarak said in the documents tabled yesterday.
Statutory report
“Investigations are ongoing and the statutory report of the findings with recommendations will be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions for independent review and necessary action once investigations are completed,” he added.
Commission has been investigating alleged irregularities in the procurement process for construction of the stadium since 2019.
Stadium is being constructed by M/s Scanjet Construction.
Dandora was among other stadia such as Kawangware and Kihumbuini both allocated Sh250 million, and Ziwani (Sh186.6 million), which were also being investigated.
The programme was initiated by Sonko as one of his flagship projects.
“So far, the county government of Nairobi has made payments of Sh137.52 million to the contractor in four installments,” Mbarak states.
“Works at Dandora stadium have, however, stalled due to a dispute between the Nairobi City County Government and the contractor,” Twalib said, adding that the dispute was occasioned by the contractor’s deviation from reinforced concrete terraces to steel as evidence in the various correspondences between the county and the contractor.
Mbarak told the committee chaired by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja that the commission has prioritised the case and would submit report soon after the probe is concluded.
“Commission is progressing this investigation as a priority due to public interest and amounts involved,” Mbarak told the lawmakers.
