Appointment of stadia board boss revoked amid row over naming rights
Nyayo National Stadium: The Sports Stadia Management Board has surrendered the naming rights of the 30,000- seater stadium to Coca-Cola in a Sh120m deal.
The controversy over the branding of Nyayo National Stadium as Coca-Coca National Stadium took a new twist at the weekend when the government revoked the appointment of a director of the Sports Stadia Management Board that signed the deal with the soft drinks giant.
The Sports Stadia Management Board surrendered the naming rights of the 30,000- seater stadium to Coca- Cola East and Central Africa in a Sh120 million deal signed in February in line with international trends where conglomerates brand sports facilities at an agreed fee over a period of time.
Revenue stream The change-over to Coca-Cola National Stadium opened a new revenue stream for the Sports Stadia Management Board which largely depended on Treasury for its upkeep. The government has put State corporations under pressure to become financially independent.
The Sports Stadia Management board is a critical State corporation established under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to run Kenya’s public sports facilities ,among them the Coca- Cola National Stadium (formerly Nyayo National Stadium) and Moi International Sports Complex-Kasarani.
The deal which handed the soft drinks maker the rights to rename Nyayo Stadium to Coca-Cola National Stadium has turned sour and triggered sharp criticism from the government and trade unions who have said the branding of the stadium violated the country’s history and national symbols.
The Ministry of Sports and the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) have demanded that the stadium reverts to its former name.
The Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Prof Hellen Sambili, entered the fray at the weekend when she revoked the appointment of Mr Paul Thuita Maina as a member of the Sports Stadia Management Board.
In a Kenya Gazette notice dated May 8, Prof Sambili appointed Benjamin Sogomo as a director of the Sports Stadia Management Board for a period of three years beginning May 1. Mr. Sogomo is a former secretary of the Teachers Service Commission.
The government did not renew the contract of Mr Sam Mwai, who was the CEO of the Sports Stadia Management Board and replaced him with Mr James Kiprop Bett who died in a road accident in April.
Mr Mwai who left the Board after a six- year term has handed over to one of the board members Mr Gabriel Komora. “We do not have a CEO for now. Mr. Mwai has handed over to me but the board is yet to sit to appoint a CEO” said Mr Komora.
Mr Komora, however, refused to comment on the revocations of the appointment of Mr Maina from the board saying that he was not privy to the changes which were published in the Kenya Gazette.
The Board was established in 2003 to turn around the fortunes of the sports facilities which were in poor state but the parastatal has struggled to inject new impetus to generate revenue from the facilities.
The Sh120 million naming rights deal it signed with Coca-Cola was intended to keep the parastatal afloat but it has since turned controversial with the minister for sports demanding that it be revoked.
The Sports minister has said the government was not involved in the deal .
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