CS Amina fires Wote Stadium contractor

The Sh350 million Wote stadium in Makueni County, which Deputy President William Ruto commissioned in 2017, will now be undertaken by the National Youth Service (NYS).

This is after the government terminated a deal it had with Nitram and Traphes Enterprise Limited, the contractor who has been building the sports facility.

Sports, Culture and Heritage Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohammed announced the contract termination on Tuesday. She accused the contractor of incompetence.

The stadium is among several such facilities that the Jubilee administration had promised to deliver across the country four years ago in its efforts to nurture sporting talent.

The construction of the stadium had grinded to a halt shortly after its construction was launched by DP Ruto in the run up to the 2017 polls, ostensibly due to lack of funds. Ms Mohammed relaunched the project seven months ago. 

The contractor had already done part of the perimeter wall, part of the tracks and part of the arena. He had not started with the pavilion citing a change of the design of the component.

Mutiso Menezes International, the consultant at the project, estimated that the contractor had completed 35 percent of the work.

"We do not believe that the contractor has the capacity to deliver this project. We have followed the right procedure to terminate the project. We had out the contractor on notice over incompetence," Ms Mohammed said at the project site on Tuesday.

She was accompanied her Labor counterpart Simon Chelugui, and the chairman of Sports Kenya board of management, Mr Fred Muteti.

The contractor, however, protested the termination of the contract and blamed the delay on completing the project on Sports Kenya.

Mr Mark Muendo, a Nitram and Traphes Enterprise Limited Director, blamed the project consultant for delays in approving changes in the design of the pavilion. He also accused Sports Kenya of delaying approval of monies requested.

Ms Mohammed dismissed Mr Muendo's reasons as lame excuses. She maintained that the government had played all its roles in facilitating the contractor to complete the project.

If anything, she said, the project was scheduled to be completed in 2018. 

"We have already paid the contractor Sh147 million. He should refund the excess money," she said.

She ordered the contractor to vacate the site and sit with Sports Kenya officials to quantify the work done, saying that the rest of the work will be undertaken by the National Youth Service. 

Ms Mohammed's entourage reiterated the government's commitment to complete all stadia on time. 

"We shall not listen to excuses and blame games," Mr Chelugui said.

The completion of the Wote stadium is not only expected to be President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy, but also a plus to the sleepy region bubbling with untapped sporting talent.

The stadium is also expected to spruce up Wote town and make the county headquarters an enviable sporting destination.