As activist Francis Lwenya who is currently held by officials of sports Kenya heads to court to freeze key accounts, the Gabriel Komora era comes under its fiercest scrutiny yet.
With infrastructure iin crisis and billions of shillings reportedly vanished into a fog of stalled stadiums, inflated contracts, ghost procurement, and missing title deeds,the situation at Sports Kenya is quite appaling.
At the centre of the storm stands Gabriel Komora — a man who has navigated the corridors of Sports Kenya since as far back as 2012 — now facing the most consequential accountability moment of his career.
This Tuesday, activist Francis Lwenya( who is in custody )is expected to walk into court seeking emergency orders to freeze the bank accounts of key Sports Kenya officials and demanding scrutiny of accounts belonging to close family members of Gabriel Komora.
It is a dramatic escalation in a saga that has been building for months.
The State of Kasarani is the elephant in the room and has been described as a national embarrassment.
The stadium’s playing surface had been deconstructed , yet for another facelift that will cost the taxpayer millions of shillings.
Sports Kenya has faced widespread criticism over poor pitch conditions, including dry, discoloured turf and inadequate maintenance, and now requires extensive reconstruction, including drainage and irrigation works.
In February 2026, Sports Kenya confirmed the main stadium and its annexes would be shut down to allow Phase II upgrading works in line with CAF standards ahead of AFCON 2027, with contractors expected to commence works that month.
The closure forced sports federations to relocate upcoming events and left the Harambee Starlets without a training venue. (The Eastleigh Voice)
Yet even with the closure, confidence in the renovation timeline remains shaky. Kenya’s Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi revealed that while the contractor at Kasarani had reduced its workforce due to a debt exceeding Ksh3.7 billion owed to it, the contractor at Nyayo National Stadium had left the site entirely over a Ksh2.6 billion debt.
AFCON projects account for Ksh11.7 billion — the largest share — of a Ksh14.47 billion shortfall in the State Department for Sports.
The consequence was damning. As of February 2026, CAF declared that none of Kenya’s three proposed competition stadiums fully meet the Category 4 requirements needed to host the continental showpiece.
A Paper Trail of Scandal
The rot extends well beyond Nairobi.
Seven county stadiums budgeted at Ksh2.854 billion later appeared as eight projects costing Ksh2.9 billion, despite an ongoing EACC investigation. MPs questioned how an eighth stadium was added and why expenses continued to rise.
At Kinoru Stadium in Meru, costs jumped from Ksh109 million to Ksh355 million, leaving Ksh246 million unaccounted for.
Regional stadiums showed similar discrepancies. The pattern of missing documentation, escalating costs, and unrefunded advances pointed to what lawmakers called systemic failures.
MPs also raised eyebrows over a Ksh24.4 million payment linked to a Moscow football club, and uncovered that Sports Kenya lacks proper land ownership documents for key national assets including Kasarani National Stadium and Moi International Sports Centre.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture in October 2025, Acting Director General Gabriel Komora and senior management faced tough questioning over expenditures on projects that were either incomplete or never materialised, including three proposed national stadiums in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Eldoret — estimated to cost Ksh42 billion — which had yet to see construction despite millions spent on consultancy and feasibility studies.
When pressed on missing financial records, Komora told the committee that original records were surrendered to the EACC and never returned, forcing reliance on certified copies. MPs dismissed his explanation, insisting the watchdog must return the documents. Committee Vice Chairperson Caleb Amisi declared:
“We are witnessing deliberate financial mismanagement. Taxpayers’ money cannot just disappear without accountability.”
The probe also uncovered irregular payments tied to the World U18 Athletics Championships. Sports Kenya spent Ksh382 million, but the Ministry of Sports refunded only Ksh274.8 million, leaving Ksh47.39 million outstanding. An additional Ksh73 million in interest certificates remains unpaid, and a Ksh48 million remittance to Athletics Kenya officials lacked documentation. (The Weekly Vision)
MP Benjamin Langat put it bluntly: “There was significant corruption. The system was weak and open to abuse.”
The crisis escalated dramatically on November 5, 2025. EACC officers raided the homes and offices of senior officials over allegations of unlawfully acquiring Ksh3.8 billion in public funds, with operations covering Nairobi, Nanyuki, Machakos, Kiambu, and Nyeri counties.
Among those named were Senior Assistant Commissioner of Sports Caroline Muthoni Kariuki, Deputy Accountant General Otis Mutwiri Nturibi, department accountant David Muasya Musau, and business figures Dickson Kibunyi Mahia of Turkenya Tours & Safaris Limited and Maureen Wangui Wambugu of Smart Flows Travel Limited.
During the operation, investigators recovered Ksh5.46 million in cash, investments in government securities valued at Ksh597 million, thirteen motor vehicles, twenty-eight parcels of land, and thirty-seven bank accounts believed to be linked to the scheme.
Preliminary findings showed that the suspects allegedly channelled funds through travel and logistics firms linked to them, issuing inflated invoices and billing for services never rendered.
Pressure has been mounting on Komora to resign, with the Sports Enthusiasts of Kenya organisation demanding his exit and that of Director General Timothy Kiplimo within seven days, failure to which they vowed to file a constitutional petition seeking their removal.
Through a statement read by Francis Ndwenya, the chairperson of the organisation, Komora is accused of violation of integrity, abuse of office, and failure of public duty.
He is expected to move to the High Court seeking the freezing of bank accounts of key Sports Kenya officials and the scrutiny of accounts belonging to close family members of Gabriel Komora — a move that mirrors successful legal strategies used in other high-profile Kenyan corruption cases, such as the court-ordered freezing of Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi’s accounts over an Ksh813 million graft case.
The organisation has also called on the EACC, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the Auditor-General, and parliamentary oversight committees to expedite investigations, emphasising there must be full accountability for financial mismanagement, stalled projects, and institutional failure. “Kenya cannot walk into AFCON 2027 unprepared, disorganized, and exposed,” Ndwenya warned.
“The continued stay in office of incompetent leadership at Sports Kenya risks plunging the country into international disgrace.”
CAF has designated the period leading up to August 2026 as the “decisive implementation phase” for AFCON 2027 preparations. Training sites including the Kasarani Annexes, Ulinzi Stadium, and Police Sacco Stadium were flagged for issues such as inconsistent pitch quality, inadequate floodlighting, and lack of essential team facilities.
Kasarani, long regarded as Kenya’s main arena, now faces extensive upgrades ranging from pitch reconstruction and modern floodlighting to improved security systems and media facilities, while Nyayo has been suggested by CAF to be used primarily as a training ground due to its aging infrastructure and lack of a clear renovation plan.
The courts are now watching. And a nation that co-hosts Africa’s biggest football tournament in 2027 is asking one urgent question: where did the money go?
Komora has not been formally charged with any criminal offence at the time of publication. The allegations against Sports Kenya officials are subject to ongoing investigations by the EACC and parliamentary oversight.