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The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) now wants sports authorities to furnish it with details of all persons who travelled for the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA.

Detectives want to be furnished with all details on the list of persons who qualified to take part in the competition, how and when their visas were applied and granted, as well as reasons for their travel.

DCI’s move comes amid revelations that a group of joyriders accompanied the athletes and sports officials to the United States city, even as top runners like Sheilla Chepkurui (10,000m) missed out over visa complications.

Head of Economic and Commercial Crimes Unit (ECCCU) at DCI headquarters, Mike Muia, has written an urgent request to Sports Principal Secretary Joe Okudo, Athletics Kenya (AK), National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) and Sports Kenya (SK).

Travel manifest

He wants full details of the trip to be made available to his office by the end of this week as investigations into the scandal commence in top gear.

DCI says the information would enable them determine the number of individuals who may have accompanied the team, their roles and the officials responsible for their inclusion in the entourage.

The four agencies are also required to provide Muia with details of any payments and allowances made in relation to the games and reasons they were made, including receipts.

“They are also required to furnish us with the travel manifest and air tickets of all those who travelled and the date of their travel. Once we get all the said details, we shall be in a position to get to the root of the matter,” Muia, who is heading the investigating team, told People Daily yesterday.

He says the Principal Secretary (PS in the  Ministry of Sports, Joe Okudo, has been drawn into the matter as the chief accounting officer for all operations under the Ministry, while Sports Kenya was responsible for the budget and financing of the team.

NOCK is on the spot as it is mandated to oversee the organisation of all regional, continental and international sports activities,while Athletes Kenya was involved in the team selection, preparation, travel and stay in the United States.

“We would like to know the role of every organisation in the entire process before we can decide whether there was a crime committed and those culpable,” Muia said.

Detectives are also out to determine who should be held responsible for the mess that saw Africa’s 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala encounter visa delays. He arrived in Oregon two hours before the start of the men’s 100m round one.

The confusion — attributed to a decision by senior sports officials to include an extra 32 people in the travel squad — also saw Africa’s 10,000m champion Chepkurui fail to secure a visa to the US under unclear circumstances despite making it to the 10,000m team that had been scheduled to participate in the global showpiece.

Other team members were also left behind after failing to get travel documents. 

They included team manager Rono Bunei, physiotherapists Jessica Shiraku, John Muraya and Japheth Kariakim, and team doctor Victor Bargoria. 

Interestingly, Athletics Kenya president Jackson Tuwei did not also travel to Oregon after failing to get a visa, with Muia saying that, if need be, they may have to contact the US embassy in Kenya to get full details.

Sh2m bribe claims

Sports officials refuted allegations that the alleged 32 joyriders paid Sh2 million each in bribes to be included in the list — in what has been likened to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games scandal where officials appropriated tickets, cash allowances and sporting gear intended for athletes.

However, there has been deafening silence from those supposed to come clear on the matter. 

Okudo insists that only six Ministry officials, among them Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, travelled. 

He says their main purpose was to meet Kenya’s chief kitting sponsors, Nike, who are based in Oregon State, next Monday.