Prof Hillary Barchok, Governor of Bomet, has been invited before the Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee (PA&IC) to explain why the multi-million dollar Bomet stadium project has been blocked.
Dr. Ochilo Ayako, the Senate PA&IC Chairperson, said the Governor, who was missing during his Monday tour of the County, should explain in person why the people of Bomet were not receiving services that should have been provided by the facility despite allocations of more than US$ 2.2M.
Ayako expressed regret that, nine years later, there had been no visible progress in the stadium’s development, which still had unfinished terraces and lacked sanitary facilities, among other essential amenities. He stated that the Governor’s office was in a better position to expound on the status of the court action in which a petitioner is attempting to block payment to the contractor that completed the first work due to wranglings over stadium ownership.
Bomet Deputy Governor explanation on the stalled Bomet Stadium Project
Bomet Deputy Governor Shadrack Rotich told the committee that the project was halted due to a dispute over the site between the County Government and Bomet University, which caused the latter to seek a court order, which halted further development until the matter was resolved addressed.
Ayako said he couldn’t say anything further since the case was in court, but he urged the Governor to comply with the summons in order to shed light on the situation. He did, however, emphasize that if the two sides choose conversation as an alternate method of resolving disputes over ownership of the stadium property, it would be sensible given the large amount of public money invested in the project.
He stated that they were dead serious as a committee since public money had been invested here, and they had heard the cries of Kenyans who wanted to use this facility. Turkana Senator Prof Imana Malachy Ekal, Nominated Senator Mercy Chebeni, and Taita Taveta Senator Jones Mwaruma accompanied Dr. Ayako.
