The Sh450 million Kwale Stadium will be ready by June 2022, Sports and Talent Management executive Ramadhan Bungale has said.
About Sh50 million is to be used in the first phase and is set to be completed by June this year. The stadium will have the capacity to accommodate more than 3,000 people.
Construction of the main dais and the playing field is ongoing. The pitch would later be upgraded in phases to fit international standards.
Bungale said the multimillion-shilling facility is expected to host Kenyan premier leagues and national celebrations.
“We want to elevate sporting activities and uplift the face value of the county by hosting numerous national games,” he said.
The county executive said modern changing rooms, restaurants, athletics racing tracks, medical rooms, toilets and flooding lights will be installed to give the stadium the deserving status.
The stadium will also have other sports courts such as a swimming pool, basketball, volleyball, rugby, tennis, netball and many more. Security cameras shall be fitted to keep day and night vigil.
The facility is situated at Kinarini, next to the youth and empowerment centre in Matuga. Once completed, it would be the first stylish football ground in the region.
It will also open a new chapter to young talented players who lack proper training facilities and equipment.
For years, Kwale residents have been travelling to Mombasa and other counties to have a glimpse of what a standard football pitch looks like.
Bungale said the county will set up similar structures and renovate playing fields in the remaining three subcounties of Lunga-Lunga, Msambweni and Kinango.
The stadium project had earlier stalled brewing a lot of controversy among the local politicians who mocked that funds were embezzled.
At some point, the unfinished county stadiums were accused of turning into dens for teen pregnancies. However, Bungale said the projects delayed due to the legal framework and logistic issues.
He said they target to use sports as an economic booster that will empower, grow talents and generate employment opportunities for the unemployed youth.
“When thousands of people come to Kwale for sports that means booming businesses for hotels and local traders,” he said.
Bungale said Kwale is in the process of allocating money to see youth are trained as football referees and coaches so that they represent the county at the national level in sports. The region has several times proved its might in terms of sports.
In 2018 Kwale girls emerged as the East African football champions in the 17th edition of the Brookside East Africa secondary games in Rwanda and claimed the Kenyan title of the national secondary school games.
The county executive said they are determined to see great talents are well nurtured and represented internationally.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
