RIO SCANDAL: WHY DPP WANTS CS WARIO AND CO CHARGED; Top Sports Ministry officials staring at criminal proceedings over Rio 2016 scandal

Sports CS Hassan Wario (middle) and his PS Richard Ekai ( rght) addresses the Labour Committee of the National Assemble on Rio Olympics fiasco at Parliament Buildings 20-09-16 PHOTO MOSES OMUSULA

On August 25, 2016, Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and the Arts, Dr Hassan Wario Arero called the press to the boardroom of his ministry‘s headquarters to slay the dragon of the Rio 2016 fiasco.

Four months and 23 days later on January 17, 2017 the fire from the head of the dragon was thrown in his direction when the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Keriako Tobiko recommended his prosecution over the scandal that shamed a nation.

Tobiko also wants the Directorate of Criminal Investigation to open legal proceedings against Sports Principal Secretary, Dr Richard Ekai and Director of Administration, Haron Koech having received their investigation report on December 23, 2016.

“I do hereby disband the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) with immediate effect and transfer their responsibilities to Sports Kenya as the interim custodian, who will ensure the adoption of a new constitution and setting of the election calendar,” Wario announced on August 25 last year.

WARIO THUNDERED

“NOCK officials assured that kits and accommodation were in place. Enough is enough; we cannot keep implementing the Sports Act while the perennial problem keeps pulling us back. It not only violates the Sports Act but also the Olympics Charter,” Wario thundered at the time.

This followed a terse order by President Uhuru Kenyatta who was touched by the plight of the athletes who gave Kenya its best ever performance in the quadrennial Olympic Summer Games when they won six gold, six silver and a bronze, some whom he interacted freely with and formed close bonds, even giving them direct access to contact him.

National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) officials from right, Francis Kanyiri Paul (secretary general) with Puis Ochieng (General Team Manager) at milimani law courts in Nairobi on August 29 2016 after they were arrested on Friday night arrested in connection to the Rio 2016 Olympics scandal which saw several athletes miss tickets, accreditation documents and others stranded in Brazil days after the closing ceremony of the competitions.PHOTO DAVID NJAAGA/STANDARD}

When the scandal came to light even before the athletes finished their campaign on August 22, 2016, the Head of State was reported to be livid with the lurid details of the impunity as officials in Brazil went about their business, living a lavish life while athletes and technical staff were forced to share rooms and in one case, housed in a dangerous slum when the Olympics Village closed business.

Moving swiftly to placate his boss, Wario then constituted an eight-member Rio 2016 Probe Committee that was to sift through the rubble of the scandal where hundreds of millions of shillings and kit from Nike meant for athletes was either stolen, squandered or misappropriated by ministry and Nock officials.

While turning the heat on the discredited Olympics body, that is in the process of undergoing reforms aimed at cleaning house after four senior officials were arrested and charged with offenses related to the Rio 2016 scam, Wario paraded himself as a victim of the excesses, not an architect or facilitator of the scam.

The move to disband Nock put Kenya at the cross-hairs of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) with Wario facing a backlash over the decision. The National Assembly Committee on Labour and Social Welfare hauled before it to explain his decision.

“Under the Kenyan Constitution, the CS has executive authority to take action against any sporting organisation for the public good. As per the moral law and ethics, it would be inadvisable to remain legalistic even when the situation or crisis at hand dictated otherwise.

WATCHDOG

“Nock will never rectify themselves, they need a firm hand. It is a body under the laws of Kenya and pretends to be invisible and independent. While Nock was preparing for the Olympic Games, it did so under a steering committee constituted by the Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts and at that point, it was acting as a public body,” the minister told the parliamentary watchdog as he distanced himself from blame.

Wario finally received the Probe Committee report on October 28, 2016 and swiftly took it to the Head of State and to date, it is yet to be formally released.

However, a huge chunk of it leaked to the media exposing the sharp divisions at the top brass of the Sports Ministry when the findings exonerated Wario and put all the blame on his Ekai who is the principal accounting officer.

At the epicentre of the blame game was the identity of the chairman of the Rio 2016 Olympics Steering Committee that brought together representatives from Sports Ministry and Nock to plan for and execute the budget for Team Kenya at the Games as well as other logistical and technical support.

BUCK STOPPED

The Steering Committee held only three meetings before Rio 2016 where the allocation of the entire Sh590 million budget largely funded by the Government was done.

List of traveling athletes and officials drawn and other logistical planning was put together here.

The buck stopped with the chair of this committee with Wario claiming he only chaired the first meeting and did not stay long enough to the time the decision was made, leaving Ekai to take charge, a claim the PS denied once the Probe Report blamed him.

“I was not the chairman of the Steering Committee. I only stood in for the CS. We tried to have a number of meetings, and when you look at it, three have been quoted and in two of them the CS was actually the chairman and he should own up to the decisions that were made in those meetings.

“The way they are deducing the issues here; it says that the chairman of the Steering Committee should own up to what happened. The question is, who is the chairman in this committee? I carried out my duties as an assistant officer to the CS,” Ekai maintained in light of the findings of the committee appointed by Wario on August 31.

“When you shift this to one particular person adding that I was organising meetings separately or privately, then it looks suspicious. I did my part, things had to be flowing,” Ekai emphasised when the report was released.

At the same time, the Wario-nominated Probe Committee that is yet to be paid for their 38 days of service was unearthing the scandal that besmirched Kenya‘s reputation internationally and soured the historic performance was conducting its investigations, CID officers were also busy conducting their own.

Once they were through with their findings, they wrote to the DPP seeking the way forward and Tobiko responded on January 12, 2017, paving the way for Wario and top officers to be charged.

The senior ministry bureaucrats will be compelled to step aside in accordance with Chapter 6 of the Constitution that requires public officers charged over graft to vacate office until cleared to resume duty if put to their defence in court.

Tobiko wants them to answer to charges of paying inflated allowances to athletes and officials, the ferrying of six unauthorised persons as part of Rio Olympics Kenyan delegation, payment of allowances to people who did not travel to Rio, double payment of allowances to Nock officials, improper procurement of contract for the provision of air tickets at the cost of Sh154, 541, 280 and paid to Green Bay Limited, a travel agency firm based in Nairobi.

This represented excess cost of air-ticketing at Sh59,153,480.

According to the DPP, Wario, Ekai and Komen face charges related to “Abuse of Office contrary to Section 46 as read within Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (ACEA), Breach of Trust by persons employed in public service contrary to Section 127 (1) of the Penal Code, Abuse of Office contrary to Section 101 of the Penal Code and Neglect of Official Duty contrary to Section 128 of the Penal Code.”

Wario is cited as having “chaired the Steering Committee meeting which had allowances that exceeded the Salaries and Remunerations Commission (SRC) guidelines.”

Ekai should bear responsibility due for “being the accounting officer at the Ministry and having attended the Steering Committee meeting, he should have pointed out the allowances exceeded the SRC guidelines.”

Komen as the “Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) holder at the time of payment, he should have advised the payment should not be made due to the fact they exceeded the SRC guidelines on payment of allowances.”

Additionally, Ekai who denied links with the Green Bay firm further failed to “appoint an evaluation committee to undertake technical and financial evaluation for the tender for the supply of the air tickets for Rio Olympics team contrary to the requirement of Section 16 of the Public Procurement and Disposal Regulations of 2006.”

Komen, as the AIE holder “ought to have ensured that the payment to Greenbay Tours and Travel pursuant to the contract for the provision of air tickets had followed due process and was within the budgeted amount.

BANK STATEMENT

The Ministry officials are said to have paid $130,500 (Sh13,552,425.00) in excess allowances to the 84 athletes who represented the country at a rate of USD250 (Sh25,962.50) each against the USD200 (Sh20,700) recommended by the SRC for the 30 days they were on national duty.

Investigations also reveal 14 Central Management Committee officials were each paid $350 (Sh36,347.50) against the recommended Sh31,155.00 for the 30 days, a loss of $21,000 (Sh2,180,850.00) meaning $151500 (Sh15,681,350.00) was irregularly paid in allowances.

It is important to note athletes like men’s 5000m runner, Thomas Longosiwa who did not travel to Rio were listed as having received their allowances but the runner strenuously denied and was willing to submit his bank statement to back his claim, opening the possibility some of the cash was diverted to other pockets.

Nock officials led by Team Kenya Head of Mission, Stephen arap Soi, first vice-chairman Ben Ekumbo, second vice-chairman Pius Ochieng and Secretary General Francis Kinyili Paul have denied the charges related to the Rio 2016 fiasco and are out on bail.