‘Idiotic witchhunt’ – CS Kuria furious after implication in stadium scandal

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FOOTBALL ‘Idiotic witchhunt’ – CS Kuria furious after implication in stadium scandal

Kiplagat Sang • 18:52 - 06.04.2023

The former Gatundu MP is linked with a company that won the Karatu Stadium tender.

Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria has allegedly termed claims he was involved in a ghost stadium project as ‘idiotic’.

A firm linked with him reportedly won the tender to upgrade the Karatu Stadium, in his former area of parliamentary representation, Gatundu South.

According to Business Registration Service (BRS) records, the firm that won the Ksh259,604,780 tender, Smith & Gold Productions Ltd, is jointly owned by Emerging Capital Holdings Ltd. (700 shares) and Aloise Kinyanjui Kuria (300 shares).

Emerging Capital Holdings Ltd. is fully owned by Mr Moses Kiarie Kuria, and Aloise Kinyanjui Kuria is his brother.

"Stop this idiotic witch-hunt," Kuria responded to a text message seeking clarification over the claims, as reported by Nation Sports.

Although there is no evidence to show that the firm won the tender irregularly, there was a potential conflict of interest since Kuria was then a serving MP.

40 percent of the funds had allegedly been released to Smith & Gold, but only 20 percent of the work was done.

The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Sports, Culture, and Tourism noted in 2020 that funds had dried up from the government side, but Smith & Gold had not done work equivalent to the Ksh102 million that had already been released.

In May 2020, Sports Kenya and Smith & Gold signed a return-to-work framework document, which was revised to December 31, 2020.

But there has been slow progress in the construction of the stadium that was once dubbed a potential sports hub in the region.

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