A businessman has lost a Ksh350 million deal with the state after clashing with Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed.
A statement by the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) on Tuesday, February 2 indicated that the CS fired the contractor from Wote Stadium in Makueni County after what she termed as under-performance.
She made the move after being unimpressed by the progress following a visit to the construction site which was being run by Mike Muendo's Traphes and Nitram Enterprise Limited.
She further noted that National Youth Service (NYS) had been selected to take over.
Mohammed was accompanied to the site by her colleagues including Labour CS Simon Chelugui and Sports Kenya Chairman Fred Muteti.
The contractor has had a tough run with the project after missing several deadlines including that of December 2020.
In September 2020, the contractor appealed to have the deadline extended by two months but Ministry of Sports officials turned him down.
“The issue of timeline extension can’t apply here because you know the pressure we’ve been given and how many times we’ve been here and you have been assuring us that you’ll mobilise your team in order to adhere to the set timelines, but that has not been the case.
“We’ve even been directed to terminate your contract and re-advertise it but we’ve been patient and so the facility must be handed over to us (Sports Kenya) by the end of the year,” stated Muteti at the time.
The contractor had signed a return to work agreement with the ministry in June 2020 after the site had stalled in 2017.
Towards the end of 2020, the contractor further claimed that there was a variation of Ksh12 million due to the restructuring of the site's landscape.
Wote is among 10 stadiums that are still under construction across the country.
