Wario facing jail over Rio Olympics fiasco

A Nairobi Court has on Wednesday 15th September 2021 found former Sports Cabinet Secretary Hasan Arero Wario guilty of abuse of office.

Wario who had in his tenure boasted of being a favorite of president Uhuru Kenyatta among the cabinet secretaries will spend the night in custody until Thursday 16th September 2021 for mitigation and sentencing.

Also found guilty in the Rio fiasco is a former top cop Stephen Arap Soi who was National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) deputy treasurer and Chief de Mission of Team Kenya to the Rio Olympics.

All the other accused persons were also acquitted on the charges levelled against them for lack of sufficient evidence

The case involving a fiasco of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games was filed in 2018 against Wario and six others and has dragged in court for three years.

The former Cabinet Secretary, after leaving cabinet was appointed Kenya’s Ambassador

Wario was found guilty of abusing his office, that led to loss of public funds during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

He was also found guilty of willfully failing to comply with applicable procedures and guidelines relating to management of public funds.

Stephen Arap Soi © Courtesy

"Anti-corruption magistrate Elizabeth Juma on Wednesday said Wario took advantage of his office and added an additional three people to the list of Team Kenya and had them paid allowances yet he had no mandate to do so.

The magistrate said there was wastage of money during the Rio fiasco and Wario did not have a mandate to allow the additional three people to travel as Team Kenya," The Star reported

Wario was however acquitted on the charge of engaging in a project without planning.

The acquitted co-accused individuals in the case include former PS Richard EKai, Haron Komen, Francis Paul and Patrick NKabu Kimathi. The court cited lack of evidence in all the graft charges for their acquittal.