All is not well at Olympics body

From Left: Founder Soya Awards Paul Tergat, NOCK President Kipchoge Keino, NOCK legal officer Sharad Rao and David Mereka of Mereka advocates at a past meeting on February 28. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Work on the 16-storey National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) headquarters has stalled due to uncertainty regarding the pending elections.

Insiders told Standard Sports that the association has fallen behind in making payments to financiers, who bankrolled the project, thus putting it at risk of repossession.

“Since NOCK accounts were frozen a few months ago, the association has been having sleepless nights and is finding it difficult to make payments. We have fallen behind in our plans. There is a big risk of it being repossessed unless the matter is resolved quickly,” said our source.

The association has not been receiving funds since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended its annual grant.

NOCK President Kipchoge Keino admitted he is worried that they could lose the building which is now at the 11th floor. The construction began in 2012.

“As things stand, we are paralysed after all our accounts were frozen by the government,” he said

Keino said NOCK’s efforts to sell a piece of land they own along the Southern bypass has also been thwarted as they have been unable to acquire a new title deed for the property.

“We have a piece of land along the bypass, but it needs a new title after part of it was hived off during the construction of the Southern bypass,” he said.

But even as Keino claimed that NOCK is broke, details have emerged that some of the association’s board members were paid Sh100,000 bonus each two days ago.

But the NOCK supremo denied knowledge of this payment, insisting he has been out of town. Nock has also spent Sh360,000 to send a team to the Youth Commonwealth games currently going on in Bahamas.

Work on the 16-storey Olympic Plaza began in 2012 and it was expected to take two and a half years.

The modern office block is situated along Kenya Road in the ultra-modern Upper Hill District.

It is on a twin-tower design. It has restaurants, basement and above ground parking and supporting amenities.

Its special features include a rotating floor with a Hall of Fame and Museum to honour Olympic medallists and heroes, high level viewing deck, state of the art office suites and security screens.

The Project Concept is derived from the Olympic Rings and the Olympic Torch. This is to evoke the spirit of the Olympics and dynamism.

By having their own headquarters, NOCK was hoping to become the third sports body to have built its own office block.

Athletics Kenya pioneered in this lucrative real estate venture with the building of Riadha House, followed by Football Kenya Federation (FKF).