State of stadiums: We’re on track, CS Murkomen assures
Cabinet Secretary for Sports Kipchumba Murkomen during the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) gala awards at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on August 23, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Nyayo National Stadium will be an 18,000-seater with a new canopy, improved lighting system and a new tartan track, will have Police Sacco Stadium and Ulinzi Sports Complex as near by training ground.
- Besides Talanta Sports City and MISC that will have a new sitting capacity of 55,000, the government has also earmarked the Kipchoge Keino Stadium as the other venue for the 2027 Afcon.
The Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) and the Nyayo National Stadium will be ready in December for the African Nations Championship (Chan) that will be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in February next year.
Construction of the 60,000-seater Talanta Sports City at the Jamhuri Park, Nairobi, will be completed by December 2025 alongside three training grounds ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) that will be hosted by the three east African states.
This was revealed by Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports, Kipchumba Murkomen as he detailed the state of sports infrastructure in the country and welfare of athletes at the plenary of the National Assembly in Nairobi on Wednesday.
The CS said the ministry had identified three venues -- Masinde Muliro Kanduyi Stadium, Bukhungu Stadium and Nyayo National Stadium, as potential hosts in Chan, but the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) inspectors recommended MISC and Nyayo National Stadium to host the championship.
MISC is being upgraded with a new canopy, lighting system and tartan track. Murkomen said that there will be several training grounds for the Chan including MISC, Annex ground, Kenya Academy of Sports and Kirigiti Stadium.
Nyayo National Stadium will be an 18,000-seater with a new canopy, improved lighting system and a new tartan track, will have Police Sacco Stadium and Ulinzi Sports Complex as near by training ground.
Besides Talanta Sports City and MISC that will have a new sitting capacity of 55,000, the government has also earmarked the Kipchoge Keino Stadium as the other venue for the 2027 Afcon.
While there is no work is currently going on at the Kipchoge Keino Stadium, Murkomen assured that the venue that will have a capacity of 15,000 and canopy among other facilities will be completed in December next year with Eldoret National Polytechnic and 64 Stadium as training ground.
Murkomen was giving a response on the country’s preparedness of key sporting facilities to host international sports events, facilitation of national sports teams and the mandate of the Kenya Academy of Sports.
“The work progress at the Talanta Sports City is 23 per cent complete , MISC is 47 per cent and Nyayo National Stadium is 10 per cent,” said Murkomen, adding that work at Talanta Sports City was ongoing under the supervision of Ministry of Defence and Sports Kenya.
“The roof at the MISC is being fabricated off site and will be delivered and installed while the training sites at Annex and KAS have been handed over to the contractor,” said Murkomen, explaining that work at the Kip Keino Stadium will resume immediately.
“Procurement process for Kapsabet Stadium has commenced whereas Eldoret Polytechnic and 64 Stadium will commence in the next year,” said Murkomen.
Talking about the famous Kamariny Stadium where the project contract was terminated, Murkomen said work will resume at the projected 15,000 seater arena that is earmarked for a high performance centre.
Kamariny is among 12 regional stadiums currently under development and were part of the Jubilee government pledges in 2013.
Kamariny Stadium project is to be re-advertised with a new designs that will have a 100-bed capacity hostel.
Work at the Kirigiti Stadium should be completed by next month while work at Bukhungu Stadium is at 20 per cent with the construction of southern terraces ongoing the CS said.
Murkomen took issue with the treasury for either lack of funds or massive reduction of funds to key sports agencies like the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (Adak) and Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS).
“There is a pattern developing where key agencies are being ignored in funding and I want to challenge this house to look into budgetary issues in sports.
Murkomen noted that Treasury reduced Adak funding from Sh289m to Sh20m this year while KAS, received nothing compared to Sh600 the previous financial year.
Last week, Adak chairman, Daniel Makdwallo warned that activities at his agency had stalled due to reduced funding and that the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) could declare the country non-compliant, setting the stage for a possible ban or suspension from international sports.
