Kenya: Police Question Wario and Sports Chiefs Over Sh88 Million Rio Games Scandal

Police have questioned Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario and other senior officials in the ministry over the disappearance of Sh88 million meant for Kenyan athletes in the recent Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations moved into the Kencom House offices of the Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts on Friday, where they interviewed Dr Wario for about four hours.

And on Monday, the officers questioned the ministry's director of administration, Mr Harun Komen, and Mr Wesley Maritim, the chief of staff, as a team investigating the controversial Olympic outing recommended action against government officials who misappropriated Sh88,611,480 in an air ticketing fraud. it was revealed learnt that the detectives have also been looking for Dr Richard Ekai, the ministry's principal secretary, but had not interviewed him by Monday evening.

The report by the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games Probe Committee accuses Kenya's steering committee for the games of abdicating its work and allowing the plundering of resources and mismanagement by Olympic officials.

Dr Ekai was the chairman of the steering committee, which was expected to meet at least 10 times to prepare Kenya's participation at the Olympics, but ended up meeting only twice.

On Friday, DCI officers spent the better part of the afternoon questioning Dr Wario as a dispatch from State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu indicated that President Uhuru Kenyatta would officially release details of the probe report and announce the way forward for Kenya's beleaguered sports management later in the week.

WARIO QUESTIONED
It was gathered on Monday that a senior State House official was unhappy with the fact that Dr Wario had been questioned on Friday, while his Principal Secretary Dr Ekai, who signed the ticketing contract with Green Bay Travel Limited, was yet to record a statement with the police.