Sports CS Namwamba orders contractor back to work at Kirubia Stadium

Ababu Namwamba

Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba (right), Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki (centre) and Sports  Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke examine the worn out tartan track at Kirubia Stadium in Tharaka Nithi County on February 9, 2023. The CS ordered the contractor to repeat the work.

Photo credit: Alex Njeru | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Once complete, Kirubia Stadium will have football and rugby pitches, tartan track, and volleyball and basketball courts.
  • Kenya currently does not have a stadium that can host CAF or Fifa sanctioned matches after the Confederation of African Football banned Nyayo and Kasarani stadium for failing to meet the standards.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba on Thursday ordered the contractor who worked on the Sh384m Kirubia Stadium in Tharaka Nithi County to return to the site.

The contractor, Toddy Civil Engineering and Construction Company, completed the repairs early last year and was waiting to hand over the stadium to the government.

Ababu Namwamba

The main stand at Kirubia Stadium.  Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba ordered the contractor to repeat the work during his inspection tour of the facility in Tharaka Nithi County on  February 9, 2023.

Photo credit: Alex Njeru | Nation Media Group

Speaking during an inspection tour of the 4,500-seater facility on Thursday, Namwamba who was accompanied by Sports Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke, Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki and his deputy Wilson Nyaga, said it is unfortunate to see that even before the stadium is commissioned and put into use, almost the entire tartan track is worn out and the grass on the football pitch is substandard.

“The contractor should immediately get back to work and correct all the wrongs on this stadium,” said Namwamba.

He said it is unfortunate to note that while most of the seven regional stadiums which were launched by the former regime stalled, even those which were constructed are in a bad state and cannot host international competitions.

The other stadiums are Ruring'u (Nyeri County), Marsabit (Marsabit), Kipchoge Keino (Uasin Gishu), Wote (Makueni), Kirigiti (Kiambu) and Kamariny Stadium (Elgeyo Marakwet.

He said the government had frozen further development on the stadiums in order to conduct a thorough audit of the works to establish the exact money which was spent on the projects and why they are incomplete.

He said the ministry had however allowed work to continue on Moi Stadium in Embu County because it is set to host the next Madaraka Day celebrations and Kirubia Stadium because it will be the main stadium for the Kenya Youth Inter-County Sports Association Games (KYISA) set to take place in the county in April.

Namwamba said President William Ruto is very keen on the completion of the Kirubia Stadium, terming it as a "very significant part" of his presidential bid.

“If we want to shine internationally in sports, we must develop facilities across the country to support the bid down from the grassroots. When you see Morocco National Football Team run to the semi-finals in the World Cup, it did not jump from nowhere, but invested in identifying talents among youth and nurturing them,” he said.

Governor Njuki said Kirubia Stadium is only seven kilometres from Mt Kenya Forest offering the best altitude for training, especially athletes but it lacks basic facilities and amenities.

He said the stadium does not have a VIP lounge, lacks hostels and there is no camping area capabe of hosting athletes or teams.

“I am appealing to the CS to consider expanding the stadium by constructing the basic facilities to host VIP and sports people so that we can in future host even international games here,” said Njuki.

Ababu Namwamba

The dry grass on the Kirubia Stadium football pitch.  Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba ordered the contractor to repeat the work during his inspection tour of the facility in Tharaka Nithi County on  February 9, 2023.

Photo credit: Alex Njeru | Nation Media Group

He said the devolved government has also built three other stadiums at Kairuni in Maara, Nyangumi Stadium at Marimanti in Tharaka and Kathwana in Chuka Igambang’ombe constituencies and plans to do more.

He said it was his idea to have Kirubia Stadium constructed when he was the Member of Parliament for Chuka/Igambang’ombe Constituency in 2014 but he handed it over to the Sports Ministry in 2016 and was projected to be complete in 2017.

Njuki also urged the CS to help establish a public library in Chuka town in collaboration with the county government which will provide the land where the facility will be constructed.

Mueke assured the residents that the ministry will work to ensure that the stadium is completed and to the required standards in order to serve the intended purpose of nurturing sporting talents from the region.

"We assure you that as a ministry we want to complete facilities like this where so much money has been invested in but they are not ready for use by the public," Mueke said.

"Facilities like this are very important as they will enable us to develop the young talents up to the national teams."

Once complete, Kirubia Stadium will have football and rugby pitches, tartan track, and volleyball and basketball courts.

Kenya currently does not have a stadium that can host CAF or Fifa sanctioned matches after the Confederation of African Football banned Nyayo and Kasarani stadium for failing to meet the standards.