Stalled construction works at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret will resume immediately, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has said.
Amina, who visited the facility for the first time since she took over the baton at Kencom House said a complete facility will be crucial for the country in preparation for the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
She said she had been sent by President Uhuru Kenyatta to inspect the progress of the facility that has remained unattended to, becoming a ghost project.
The renovations were commissioned in 2012 as the country was preparing for the London Olympic Games but push and pull among various stakeholders has seen it stall.
She promised, just like her predecessors, that the remaining work will be complete within seven months.
“The stadium construction starts immediately and I am hopeful that the completion should be soon as possible. We are projecting that in the next 6-7 months, the facility will be done. The assurance I have from the contractor is that they will complete the construction within this period starting the construction tomorrow (Friday morning),” assured Amina.
She added that as the government, they want to have as many facilities as possible in the country since Kenya is a sporting nation in the world.
“We have the potential to continue being number one and at the very least, number two in athletics. However, we can’t do this if this facility remains no-functional. I wanted to see how much work needed to be done. Next time we will be having a function in Eldoret, we will actually host it here,” said Amina.
She added that she was following direction from the President to complete the facility as fast as possible.
The facility was set to host Olympics Games track and field trials but they were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno said: “Postponing Tokyo Olympics from 2020 to 2021 is a blessing for us because the stadium will be ready for our athletes to train.”
