Allegations of deep rooted corruption in the Ministry of Sports has been blamed for endless delays in the completion of major sports infrastructure projects with some officials in the ministry now pointing  fingers at the Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi.

PS Elijah Mwangi has been accused of alleged grand corruption in the Ministry  where he is said to demand hefty kick backs from contractors and has been identified as the man using his influence to stagnate various sporting and Presidential anchored sports projects, which has led to the delay of CHAN and AFCON projects.

High profile sources within a cross section of the ministry,  including the Sports Funds, Sports Kenya and Kenya Sports Academy have raised  alarm alleging that since the PS was moved to the ministry,  he has been frustrating contractors  trying to get cuts from their contracts where he uses his office as the ministries accounting officer to delay the release of funds until he cuts a deal to get hefty kick backs in his mega corruption scemes.

From our investigations from willing sources, most contractors have allegedly not reported to their allocated sites even after being awarded the tenders due to his increased demands, for a big slice of the cake, since he wont release  funds for projects before he has his deals in place. This, many fear will lead to shoddy work being done in the projects allocated and which will lead to more taxpayer money being used in future repairs.

Further, accusations alledge that the PS is the major cause why Kenya lost the hosting opportunity for two groups in the upcoming  2025 African Nations Championship (CHAN), set to take place from August 2 to 30 across four cities in East Africa.

It is alleged that due to his increased demands of kickbacks and intentionally delays of funds for projects, stadiums like Kip Keino in Eldoret and Kirigiti in Kiambu failed to get ready for action in time for CHAN while the Raila Odinga stadium in Homabay had to be completed by the military. 

It is due to these corruption actions by PS Mwangi that now, Kenya will only host one group in the CHAN competition  while CAF had planned to have Kenya host two groups, meaning almost more than half the competition matches.

This missed opportunity means Kenya will loose revenue in terms of Billions as fans who could have flooded Nairobi  would activate the economy in hotels and other services. In group D in particular  where teams like Senegal, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan are pooled, the west African Football fans are known to have a passion  for travelling to support their teams and this would  have been a boost to Kenya’s tourism sector before the group was moved to Zanzibar.

This eighth edition of the tournament, reserved for players competing in their respective domestic leagues, will be hosted jointly by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, with matches played in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, and Zanzibar.

A total of 44 games are scheduled, beginning with the opening match between hosts Tanzania and Burkina Faso in Dar es Salaam.

Group A fixtures will be played at the Moi International Sports Centre and Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.

Group B action unfolds in Dar es Salaam, while Group C games are slated for Kampala. Group D, which features some of the tournament’s fiercest rivalries, will be contested in Zanzibar.

The tournament’s climax will take place at the 60,000-capacity Moi International Sports Centre on August 30, while the third-place play-off is set for Kampala.

This was a golden opportunity for Kenya to market herself as a sports tourism destination  but the opportunity was allegedly missed  due to the greed of PS Elijah Mwangi and his cronies. 

Parastatal top level heads are all crying foul due to his alleged increased self involvement and self interest which are stagnating the development and procurement of crucial government sport projects, which were priority projects for the government  and are now  calling on President William Ruto to drop the axe

It is alleged that PS Elijah Mwangi has a dark  history of corruption hanging over his head and has often used his influence to stagnate various due to his own self interest 

During his stint as the PS for Mining, PS Mwangi  was again grilled by parliament  over the illegal mining activities in the country at a time the mining misistry was trying  to develop several regulations to govern gemstones, identification and value addition, licences and permits, dealing in minerals, royalty collection and management, and mine support services, which he noted are at an advanced stage of approval which he was said to be among the mini g cartels in Kenya.

The PS  then told parliament  that the government had lifted the moratorium it imposed in December 2019 to undertake significant reforms after he was questioned on the issue of transparency in the issuance of mineral rights.

When PS Elijah Mwangi was grilled in parliament over issuance of tenders in the ministry of Sports for he noted that most tenders were awarded before he was appointed to the ministry  and therefore  release of funds had to be checked for due diligence  but officers within the ranks of the ministry  as well as other staff have intimated that PS Mwangi has severally been spotted in the wee hours of the night, receiving sackfulls of what is believed to be corruption money in his office, which begs the question, is he there to serve the people or as always his and his cronies interests?

Several companies and individuals close to him have also been flagged for allegedly aiding his looting and frustration of contractors.   Investigation point fingers at a man named   Benson, who is a personal assistant  at Mwangi’s office, Fredrick Mwema, a Procurement officer, Mr.Shadresh of Modern Precast, a Contractor, and Mr. Noor of Sports Fund,  who are said to be the people behind his looting spree and frustration of other contractors who don’t bend to there will.

Our sources lamented that if these individuals  are not nipped at the bud and stopped, their greed will lead to the downfall of the Sport Projects and the downfall of Sports in the country and have urged the President to take this  matter seriously and stop the mismanagementby PS Mwangi.