Second phase of Keino Stadium runs into headwind

Work on the first phase of construction of Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret is almost complete.

The company working on the first phase of the project, Chinese-owned WIETC Company - has finished 90 per cent of the work.

WIETC Company had initially been awarded the whole tender to construct the VIP pavilion, terraces, changing rooms and the parking lot, but things changed when the stadium was earmarked to host 2018 African Nations Championships.

Tender for the work was again shared out to other contractors in phases. Phase two is yet to take off.

On Wednesday, site engineer Tanui Kiplang’at said they have done all the work in the required time.

“We’ve done almost 90 per cent of the work awarded to us and soon we’ll be handing over our part to the government,” he said.

Interestingly, the company has been using it’s own money to undertake construction work after Sports Kenya provided only eight per cent of the project cost.

Kai Qi, one of the project managers, has appealed to Sports Kenya to provide the rest of the money meant for the project. He regretted that the government did not help with connecting power to the site as promised, making them incur additional costs.

Shiv Construction which was to work on phase two (building VIP dais and parking area) has since stopped work on the project because it has not received money from the government. A third contractor awarded tender to plant grass at the pitch has only graded it and was not at the site when Nation Sport team visited.

Additional reporting by Lilian Chebore