This archive report was first published on 12 November 2019.
November 12, 2019
Nyeri's Ruring'u Stadium renovation project has been plagued by delays and mismanagement, with Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu calling for an investigation into the stalled project.
Speaking for the first time about the issue, Ngunjiri expressed his disappointment at the slow progress of the project, which was commissioned in June 2017 at a cost of Sh320 million in phase one.
According to a report tabled in Parliament, the project is 33 percent complete, but on the ground, there is little to show for it.
"The contractor has been paid more than he has delivered," Ngunjiri lamented. "As a matter of fact, he owes the government money because he has been paid about Sh100 million but has done nothing."
The project was initially expected to be completed in six months, but it stalled three months later due to a dispute between the contractor and the Kenya Power Company over a power line that had cut through the site.
Despite the matter being resolved six months later, the project did not continue as expected due to cash delays.
"The money which has been paid to the contractor does not match the work which has been done," Ngunjiri said.
Already, the county government has erected a perimeter fence around the stadium at a cost of Sh20 million, but the plan was to fence it once the stadium is complete.
Ngunjiri has proposed that the government terminates the contract and gives the works to the National Youth Service (NYS) to complete it.
"We are now calling upon the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to probe this matter and tell us what has happened," Ngunjiri added.
However, the contractor, Sam Mwaniki, has dismissed Ngunjiri's figures as misleading and questioned the source of the information.
"Our scope was civil works and part of the dais. We have done well so far," Mwaniki said.
