The State Department for Sports is on the spot after the Auditor General’s 2023/24 report exposed massive waste of public funds, including the demolition of newly built sports facilities and millions lost in rent for unused offices.
- •Auditors revealed that the State Department awarded three contracts worth Kshs. 1,200,290,692 to build the Jamhuri Posta Sports Ground in Nairobi, which included three football fields, a rugby pitch, access roads, and landscaping.
- •The works, done in two phases and additional upgrades, were meant to boost local sports infrastructure.
- •A September 2024 physical inspection found that Talanta Stadium, the planned AFCON 2027 venue, is now under construction on the same grounds—leading to the demolition of two brand-new football pitches, two restrooms, and access roads.
“These findings point to poor planning, waste of resources, and disregard for value for money,” the Auditor General’s report notes, urging the State Department to account for the demolished facilities.
In addition to the demolitions, the audit found that street lights installed during the project were not working, and the perimeter fence had been vandalized.
The KSh. 44.79bn Talanta Sports City project is Kenya’s anchor project for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament which will be co-hosted with Uganda and Tanzania. In July, Linzi FinCo 003 Trust, a subsidiary of the Pan-African Liaison Group, listed a Infrastructure Asset-Backed Security (IABS) on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) to fund the stadium’s construction.
The project’s contract is being executed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, and being supervised by the Kenya Defence Forces.
The audit report also reveals that the State Department spent Kshs. 98,912,315 to partition three floors of the Maktaba Kuu Building for its offices, with works completed in August 2023. Despite this, the offices remain empty over a year later, as senior officials moved operations to Talanta Plaza instead.
The decision has already cost taxpayers Kshs. 63,923,644 in rent arrears for unused space, with no explanation provided by the State Department.