Gusii Stadium in Kisii County will be renamed the Simeon Nyachae Stadium in honour of the former Cabinet minister who was buried on Monday.
President Uhuru Kenyatta gave the order at Nyachae's funeral service, adding that the government will give Kisii an additional Sh150 million for the project.
He said the stadium must be completed this year to meet international standards.
President Kenyatta further directed the Sports Ministry to immediately embark on the construction of a sports academy at Nyanturago, which will be named Nyantika Mayioro Sports Academy, after the late track legend.
He noted that the move was necessitated by Nyachae’s love for sports when he was a civil servant and as a politician. Nyachae was the patron of Kisii based Football Kenya Federation (FKF) second tier Shabana FC in the 90s.
“We have decided to rename this stadium after this great leader who strived to improve sports in the country in his remembrance. We expect the works to improve this facility to international standards and to be finalised before the end of the year” said the President.
“I have directed the Cabinet Secretary for Sports to embark on the construction of a sports academy at Nyanturago and this should be finalised before I leave office” he added.
Mayioro is remembered for winning the 3,000 metres at the 1953 Indian Games in Madagascar despite having started the race late.
He then competed at the 1954 Commonwealth Games. At the 1956 Olympics, he finished seventh in the 5000m race. He later competed at the 1958 Commonwealth Games, but did not perform very well.
Two years later at the 1960 Olympics, he was sixth in the 5000m race. His time of 13:52.8 was a new African record. Mayioro retired from running in 1964 and died in 2019.
During his burial, the county government pledged to name Gusii stadium after him, but the plan did not materialise.
Gusii Stadium successfully hosted last year’s Mashujaa Day celebrations after the government funded its renovations with the county government injecting some Sh60 million.
The facility constitutes a main dais with a capacity to accommodate 10,000 people.
The county government spent some Sh52 million to refurbish the facility three years ago, making it suitable for hosting major sporting disciplines.
During his tour of Gusii region in October last year, President Kenyatta tasked Sports Cabinet SecretaryAmina Mohamed to work with the devolved unit in ensuring a tartan track is installed at the facility and the drainage system improved.
Teams from the region that host matches at the facility are set to benefit from the renovations.
Among them is National Super League (NSL) side Shabana FC, Gusii Starlets and Resolution Kisii, which use it as their home ground.
Gusii Stadium successfully hosted the sixth edition of the Kenya Inter-County Sports and Cultural Association (Kicosca) games in August 2018 and 40th edition of the Kenya Communications Sports Organisation (Kecoso) Games the following year.
