No end to Olympics fiasco as Soi unearths more dirt

When Stephen arap Soi appeared in Parliament on Tuesday there was hope of getting to the bottom of the fiasco that surrounded Kenya’s outing at the 2016 Rio Olympic games.

Instead he stirred a hornet’s nest and now confusion over the matter has only worsened amid blame-games that threaten to boil over.

When he went before the Labour and Social Welfare Committee of Parliament alongside other National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) officials Mr Soi was a confident man.

He was armed with documents to justify how the country’s Sh584 million budget for the international competition was spent amid reports of mismanagement of athletes who represented the country in five disciplines.

The Kenya Judo Association chairman was ready to absolve Nock of any blame following statements by Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario which led to the controversial disbandment of the committee.

A confident Mr Soi revealed that millions of shillings went to waste in Brazil over unused accommodation.
He told the committee that they paid for a room on a cruise ship in anticipation of the arrival of President Uhuru Kenyatta at a rate of $605 per day for 18 days amounting to millions of shillings while more millions were wasted on a room reserved for Mr Wario.

“The directive was: ‘You leave a room on the cruise ship in the event the Head of State decides to come,” he said.
The plot, however, thickened on Wednesday when State House issued a statement rejecting the claims.

State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu was categorical that all travel arrangements for the president are made through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that the president had publicly declared that he would not travel to Rio.

Even though Senate and National Assembly chairpersons of the labour and social welfare committees were sponsored by Parliament to travel to Rio, Mr Soi told the committee that some $564 was used daily to reserve rooms for the officials.

It also came to light that Mr Soi travelled to Rio with Sh25 million in cash, money he claimed came from the Ministry of Sports to pay for accommodation and buy medicine for the team.

Hiyo ni pesa kidogo sana

“Hiyo ni pesa kidogo sana (That’s very little money),” Mr Soi said when asked why he carried the colossal amount to a foreign country.
Mr Soi told the committee that he only had Sh8 million by the time he returned to Nairobi.

The Nock Assistant Treasurer and Chef de Mission for the Olympic Games had earlier in June admitted that he had been to Rio three times for site visits to ensure that the best preparations were being made ahead of the games.

At the time there seemed to be some organisation.

The plan was that all officials and athletes would be paid allowances before departure.
Even when concern was raised by the Kenyan delegation in July over sportswear Mr Soi reassured the team that the Nike sponsored kits were being cleared and would be distributed once they we were received.

Interestingly some athletes ended up not receiving the official training and leisure kits while others were allegedly stolen. When police however raided the Nock offices they discovered several unused kits. Mr Soi’s response to the questions filed by the House committee might have been influenced by the inglorious welcome the Nock officials received when they returned jubilantly with good performance from Brazil.

Mr Soi was among the officials who were arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport over the Rio mishap.
When others were being arraigned however, his lawyer apologised to the court over his absence saying he had been taken ill.

This is not Mr Soi’s first Olympic rodeo. He has been part of the officials accompanying athletes to past Olympic Games. In 1998 he was part of the advance team that travelled to Kuala Lumpur to ensure that everything was in order before the Kenyan delegation arrived.

In 2004 he also accompanied the second contingent of 23 athletes to the Olympic Games in Greece along with five other Nock officials.

Mr Soi’s sports management career has not been without controversy. In 1995, while he was at the helm of the judo association, he failed to pay an affiliation fee of Sh150,000 leading to the disqualification of athletes from the Harare games.

Having been a Nock official and chairman of Kenya Judo Association for several years, much was expected of Mr Soi as head of the Rio Games delegation. Now Kenyans are demanding accountability of him.

Mr Soi’s woes however do not just end with sports. The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) last month ruled that he was no longer an officer and that it will not review its decision to dismiss him from the service.

According to the commission Mr Soi, an assistant commissioner of police, had reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 years.

Mr Soi was dismissed from the service in 2004 following vetting but he sued and obtained a court order compelling the commission to review its decision.

In complying with the court order the commission had scheduled the officer for a review interview in July this year.