Isiolo emerges from the shadows with ambitious stadium project

The site of construction work at the Sh345 million Isiolo Stadium in Isiolo town in this photograph taken on July 15, 2020.

Photo credit: Waweru Wairimu | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • It will also have changing rooms for ancillary staff, a two-storey VIP area, hotels and swimming pool.
  • While at the stadium’s pavilion, one gets a vantage view of the Isiolo International Airport about five kilometres away from the facility. Abdikadir Ali, an officer at the county sports department, said completion of the stadium will ensure youths are engaged and do not indulge in drug and substance abuse and that girls are not lured into early marriages.

When John “Spider” Mugambi won the 10-kilometre men’s race during January’s Athletics Kenya Upper Eastern region cross country championships at Kilimani Primary School in Isiolo, many were shocked to see a champion from Isiolo.

Mugambi, a former street boy, clocked in 28 minutes and six seconds to win the race dominated by athletes from Embu County, presenting a picture of how determined sportsmen and women from Isiolo were despite lacking requisite sporting facilities.

Like other sportsmen in the county, Mugambi has been digging deep into his pocket to access standard training facilities in Ngong, Nairobi.

Though faced with lack of proper training facilities, Isiolo County is home to a crop of sports talent including one of the Kenya’s top football strikers, 24-year-old Masoud Juma Choka, who currently plays for Algeria’s J.S. Kabylie and has been featuring for the Kenya’s Harambee Stars since 2017.

Juma, who started playing football at Tumaini Primary School, made his senior international debut for Kenya in June, 2017, when he was named to starting eleven for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Sierra Leone.

He had previously been absorbed into the Kenya under-23 side in 2015 and Bandari FC between 2014 and 2016 where he scored eight goals in 10 matches.

Kenya’s legend Atoi Boru, the 1992 World Under-20 Championships 1,500 metres gold medalist, who is now a coach, also hails from Isiolo.

The county also boasts of having produced Isiolo Starlets girls’ football team that in February qualified for national “Chapa Dimba na Safaricom” championship by beating Chuka University 3-2 in the Eastern region finals held in Machakos.

The story of how the big names made to national and global competition without proper training infrastructure is astonishing.

The rising number of sports lovers is believed to have prompted the Isiolo County Government to embark on construction of a sports stadium in efforts to nurture talent and motivate youths to embrace sports.

The Sh348 million stadium, located directly opposite the Isiolo town’s main bus stage, and whose construction is underway, is expected to cut costs for players seeking proper training grounds and ensure they have a place to showcase their talent.

Most of the local teams have been training and hosting their home matches at local school grounds.

The first phase of terraces and the main pavilion is 90 percent complete with final touches remaining and the facility now taking some shape in what could revive the fading hopes of sportsmen following slow progress of work.

The stadium will have a gym, hostels for visiting teams, offices for all sports federation, a first aid centre and will also accommodate other games like netball volleyball, tennis, boxing and other indoor games.

The construction of the second phase is projected to begin after the disbursement of conty allocation for the financial year 2020-2021 while the Installation of floodlights, a modern all-weather tartan track and Fifa standard artificial turf for the football field will be in the final phase.

The land where the stadium sits was previously used for public functions and by local youths for training, but following erection of a fence, many sportsmen and women especially the athletes had been forced to do speed work sessions along the Isiolo-Moyale road.

The stadium, whose construction kicked off late 2018 and was expected to be complete by the end of this year, will be extended for at least two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic according to Sports Chief Officer Rashid Arale.

The Governor Mohamed Kuti-led administration, he says, is committed to ensuring completion of the stadium within the shortest time possible to allow youths benefit and for promotion of local talent.

The stadium is one of the Governor Kuti’s flagship projects and the only one fully funded by the county government.

“We are committed as a county to ensure that the stadium, which is halfway, is completed in six months’ time,” Arale told Nation Sport. He said similar structure comprising of terraces and pavilion will be constructed in the second phase of the works set to start in two months’ time after which laying of the tartan track and the pitch will start.

When complete, the stadium will  accommodate between 35,000 and 40,000 people.

The two pavilions will accommodate 4,000 guests and the structure will also host a number of indoor games such as boxing and badminton. 

It will also have changing rooms for ancillary staff, a two-storey VIP area, hotels and swimming pool.

While at the stadium’s pavilion, one gets a vantage view of the Isiolo International Airport about five kilometres away from the facility. Abdikadir Ali, an officer at the county sports department, said completion of the stadium will ensure youths are engaged and do not indulge in drug and substance abuse and that girls are not lured into early marriages.

He said the department, aware of the challenges that athletes were undergoing through, had offered them a training camp at LMD area where they can comfortably hone their skills.

“We have 38 athletes at the Kilimani camp though we temporarily suspended the training due to Covid-19,” said Ali while praising women for taking up various sporting activities. Some of the youths who spoke to Nation Sport said delayed works continued to deny them a venue to hone their skills.

“I am a footballer but have no place to train at. I am appealing to the county government to expedite the project so that it is completed within the shortest time,” said Silas Mugambi from Kulamawe.