NAIROBI, Kenya, July 9 – Sports cabinet secretary Ababu Namwamba is the latest target of the newfound wave of transparency and accountability in the country, with calls for him to publish the names of the non-competitive members of Team Kenya’s delegation to this month’s Paris Olympics.
For the better part of Monday and Tuesday, Kenyans on social media have been calling on the CS to make public the list of the delegation as well as any allowances to be paid to each one.
All this began last week when former national rugby 7s team player, Dennis Ombachi, said he would be keeping an eye on the going-ons in Kenyan sports to stem any fishy business in the sector.
On Monday, the rugby-player-turned-chef was at it again, calling on Namwamba to avail the list of the delegation.
“Good morning @AbabuNamwamba the public is demanding the list and budgetary allocations of the delegation to the Olympics, we’re wondering what’s taking you so long, what are you hiding,” Ombachi said via his X (formerly Twitter) account.
Ombachi upped the stakes further when he called on Namwamba to clarify whether Shujaa have received the Ksh 5.7 million awarded to the team last month after their return to the World Rugby 7s Series.
“As we wait, please also explain why the 5.7 Million awarded to the #Kenya7s team upon their successful return to the HSBC world rugby series, has never been paid to date?” he said.
Ombachi added: “If the money has been misappropriated by your ministry and ended up lining your pockets, we Kenyans of goodwill are planning a fundraiser to pay the players because the ministry has failed our National heroes.”
The pressure went up a notch Tuesday morning with three Kenyans, writing a letter to the CS requesting the list of the delegation be publicised within seven days.
Through Bond Advocates, the three – Charleen Njuguna, Jolly Lanji and Bevalyne Kwamboka – said they may resort to litigation should Namwamba fail to avail the information within the required period.
“Under Article 35(2)(b) of the constitution and section 4 of the Access to Information Act, 2016, our clients formally seek the following information from you: a list of all non-competitive participants travelling at public expense with the Kenyan delegation to the Paris Olympics; a schedule of the individual roles of each of the non-competitive participants; a schedule of allowances and sustenance costs; and an indication of the cumulative costs of the non-competitive participants,” the letter, written by Ochiel Dudley, read.
During Friday’s flagoff of Team Kenya at State House, the CS had assured that the non-competitive contingent to the Paris Olympics would be the leanest Kenya has ever had in an international event.
“In line with the austerity measures across the country, Team Kenya will be very lean and there will be no room for joyriders. We will ensure that only the essential officials are included in the team going to Paris,” Namwamba said.
This summer’s games will kick off on July 26, until August 11.
Team Kenya has in the past been blighted by cases of too many non-competitors — also known as joyriders — in the travelling contingent, many times to the detriment of athletes.
In the aftermath of the Rio Olympics in 2016, then Sports CS Ali Hassan Wario, principal secretary Richard Ekai and the chef de mission (CDM) Stephen Soi found themselves in the dock on accusations of misappropriating Ksh 55 million.
According to the then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Noordin Haji, the trio had overseen embezzlement of Ksh 22.4 million, overpayment of allowances worth close to Ksh 15.9 million, spending of Ksh 6.5 million on unauthorised persons and purchase of air tickets worth Ksh 16.8 million, which were never used.
The ugly head reared itself once again in 2022 when Athletics Kenya (AK) found themselves in the firing line for allegedly carrying 32 joyriders to the World Championships in Oregon.
The scandal was stoked all the more by the fact that Commonwealth Games 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala nearly missed out on the competition due to inability to obtain his travel documents on time.
The scrutiny and calls for the publishing of the Team Kenya delegation is the latest of missiles fired at the Sports docket, which was recently under a barrage of criticism for poorly designed ceremonial kits for the Olympics.
The kits were selected after a competitive processes that comprised various designers presenting their concepts for a grand prize of Ksh 300,000.
