False dawn as works at Kipchoge Keino stadium fail to kick off
What you need to know:
- The ministry had promised, in an exclusive interview with Nation Sport, that stalled construction works at the facility will resume in the second week of January and the stadium will be ready for use in April.
- A spot check by Nation Sport revealed that there was no works going on at the facility with a source at one of the contractors saying that there was no meeting between them and the government.
- In Turkana, the county government will evaluate the work on Ekaales Sports Stadium after a contractor stopped during the 2017 elections campaign only to return a year later after successfully applying for continuation.
Athletes will wait longer to use Kipchoge Keino stadium in Eldoret after construction works failed to kick off last week as promised by Ministry of Sports and Heritage in December.
The ministry had promised, in an exclusive interview with Nation Sport, that stalled construction works at the facility will resume in the second week of January and the stadium will be ready for use in April. Contractors had pulled out of the renovation works for almost a year citing lack of funds from the government.
Sports Principal Secretary Kirmi Kaberia had said they had met and ironed out thorny issues with the two main contractors, WIETC Company and Shiv Contractor, and they would resume their work at the stadium.
However, a spot check by Nation Sport revealed that there was no works going on at the facility with a source at one of the contractors saying that there was no meeting between them and the government.
A separate source at Shiv Contractors said that they have used more than Sh60 million on the stadium, funds which the government is yet to refund since 2017.
“The government is not serious on this project because the company used has used a lot of own funds that are yet to be refunded two years later . We are thinking of moving to the court so that we can get our money back,” said the source who is not allowed to speak to the media.
Meanwhile in Turkana, the county government will evaluate the work on Ekaales Sports Stadium after a contractor stopped during the 2017 elections campaign only to return a year later after successfully applying for continuation.
County Sports Chief Officer Dr. Jacob Lolelea said that the evaluation will be based on the quality of work done adding that the contractor has been paid but the work done was not satisfactory.
"The county ministry realized that the contractor abandoned the job during the 2017 campaign season. I think the contractor diverted the money to politics and he was not able to continue," he said.
He revealed that the county government will take legal action if the contractor fails to deliver the stadium as per the contract signed.
Dr Lolelea also hinted on launching investigations into the design of the stadium after realizing that there are two versions. One version was done by the contractor and the other version was reportedly done by the national sports ministry.
As the wait for a new stadium continues, youth in the county will continue relying on school grounds and a facility owned by Lodwar GK Prison for their games. The football pities available in the county are sandy due to the arid nature of the region, discouraging many talented young men and women into venturing into sports.
