Renovation works at the Nyayo National Stadium will be completed in about three months’ time, Cabinet Secretary for Sport Amina Mohammed has said.
This follows an Executive order from President Uhuru Kenyatta to the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage to ensure the country’s top stadia are completed by March.
The stadium was closed in 2017 in readiness for the 2018 Africa Nations Championships but lack of sufficient funds saw renovation works stall.
CS Amina described the facility as an eyesore after conducting a brief inspection tour on Wednesday.
“We have done our homework and we have agreed that as we move forward, we don’t have this site ‘greeting us here’. We will finish this work as quickly as possible because the facility has become an eyesore for Kenyans who see this ‘monster’ each time they pass here. The president has given very clear instructions on the deadline,” she said.
Adding: “We have no reason to delay the renovations anymore. The contractors will be on site from next week to work day and night in order to meet the deadline. The two PSs have pledged that they will meet the March deadline set by His Excellency President Uhuru. I have no doubt about our capability to push the project because we have to adhere to the President’s directive.”
CS Amina added that her team will inspect Moi International Kasarani Stadium as Kenya prepares to host the World Under-20 Championships in July.
“We will be sending a team to Kasarani also tomorrow (Thursday) to look at what needs to be done there so that we can know what is required and how much time it will take. Therefore in the very near future we will have these two stadia functioning efficiently,” she stated.
