CS Amina now shifts blame on ‘cartels’ for Kenyan team hotel fiasco
The government has absolved itself from blame following the embarrassing incident of Tuesday night when Kenyan athletes were thrown out of a Nairobi hotel over a payment dispute.
In a signed statement released on Wednesday, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed instead blamed people she did not name for the fiasco.
DELAYED PAYMENT
She accused the unnamed people of booking athletes in private hotels despite a government directive to the contrary.
“It is unfortunate that some athletes were, without consultation, booked at a hotel outside the designated (government) facilities. The Ministry has arrested the situation and ensured that all teams are accommodated,” Amina said.
On Tuesday night, athletics and volleyball teams players, who are preparing for the African Games, were kicked out of St Luke’s Hotel in Nairobi, owing to delays in offering payment guarantees.
LOCKED OUT
The athletes were instructed to leave their hotel rooms with their luggage at 6pm when they checked in after their evening training sessions.
The teams have been putting up at the facility since Monday last week in preparations for the continental games scheduled for August 19-31 in Morocco.
The management of the hotel had on Saturday locked out some athletes from accessing the hotel and only agreed to allow then in after Team Kenya officials promised to clear half of their bills.