Machakos, FKF on the spot over Sh13.5 million Cecafa cash

Machakos County Government used Sh 13.5 million during the 2017 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup between December and 17.

The amount was flagged by the former Auditor General Edward Ouko during the financial audit for the financial year 2017/2018.

The Machakos County Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture made a payment of Sh 13,500,000 to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) on December 21, 2017 as support for the tournament, but the Auditor General stated that the expenditure was not approved and was made long after the tournament had ended.

Machakos, Kisumu and Kakamega were the three venues that hosted the matches.

“The Ministry did not have a budget for such an activity and the payment was not approved by the County Executive Committee Members’ Cabinet. Further, there was no memorandum on how the funds were to be used and the payment was done after the games had ended. There was also no acknowledgment from FKF of receipt of the money. Consequently, the regularity of the payment could therefore not be confirmed,” the reports reads partly.

County Sports Officer Carlos Kioko, however, admits that indeed the funds were released following a sponsorship request by FKF to Machakos.

“It was sponsorship for the Cecafa games. The county government had the policy to promote sports and market Machakos as a preferred tourism destination. The tournament offered a perfect opportunity to advance these policy objectives. To achieve this, the county has constructed the Machakos Stadium and is currently doing four other new stadiums. This will help in future to host even bigger competitions,” Kioko told Nation Sport.

“The games brought people from many nationalities. A lot of fans who spent their monies in our businesses. It marketed Machakos and the economic ripple effects are there to be seen. The money was given in good faith. We believe the expenditure was prudent,” he added.

Acting FKF CEO Barry Otieno confirmed the federation indeed received money from the county.

“It is true we received the money in support of the 2017 Cecafa tournament which was hosted in the country. The county was one of our partners and played a vital role in ensuring the tournament was a success.”

Installation of a Substandard Tartan Track

The Auditor-General has also raised an alarm on the quality of the tartan track that was installed at the Kenyatta Stadium, now popularly referred to as the Machakos Stadium.

The track that cost slightly over Sh37 million started wearing out less than a year after installation with the Auditor general concluding the county did not get value for money spent on the project.

“The Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture contracted a company to install a tartan track (all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions) at a contract price of Sh37,946,172. By June 30, 2017, the County Executive had paid a cumulative amount of Sh25,000,000 to the contractor. However, site visits revealed that approximately one-third of the running track had started wearing out, barely less than a year after installation. Consequently, value for money of this project was not realized,” the report by the AG states.

“Tartan Contract is not fully paid. Partial payment was done and the contractor was told to deal with defects before full payment. Instead of working on defects, the contractor proceeded to court. The matter is before the court as we speak,” Machakos Sports Officer Carlos Kioko told Nation Sport.

The Senate Committee on County Public Accounts and Investment issued a warrant of arrest for Machakos Governor Dr Alfred Mutua late last year for repeatedly failing to appear before it to answer audit queries.

He, however, obtained an order from the High Court barring his arrest.