From Sh35bn to Sh45.85bn: Irony of Talanta Sports City’s Sh10bn tax bill

The cost of Kenya's Talanta Sports City project, including the newly constructed 60,000-seater Talanta Stadium, has skyrocketed from the initial Sh35 billion estimate to Sh45.85 billion. According to the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu's audit report released in February 2026, the extra Sh10.85 billion is primarily due to taxes and other costs that were not accounted for in the original budget.

Initially, the university's Enterprise Services designed the stadium concept, which was estimated at Sh35 billion. However, once the government decided to have the project built by a contractor, additional tax obligations, such as VAT, withholding tax, and freight charges, came into play, significantly increasing the cost. Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi stated that once the government opted to build the stadium with a contractor, additional tax obligations came into play.

"When you ask a consultant to design a project for you, they will give you the minimal cost. It doesn't own them how you are going to do it," Mwangi explained. The government maintains that the additional billions do not represent unexplained inflation but are due to taxes and other costs that were missing from the original estimate.

However, a troubling detail from the audit report is the potential for late-payment interest from the local firm Linzi Finco LLP, which could add another sizeable bill to the already scrutinized project.