The government has disbursed funds for the refurbishment and maintenance of sports facilities in readiness for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said this while speaking during a Senate plenary session.
Aside from information regarding the budgetary allocation for their development starting in 2020/2021 and the timeline for their completion, the Senate also sought to determine each facility’s current operational status.
Murkomen said the Ministry is renovating Moi Stadium, Kasarani, Nyayo Stadium, Kipchoge Keino, Ulinzi Sports Complex and Sacco Stadium in preparation for Kenya’s bid to co-host the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2027.
“The Ministry transferred the responsibility of procurement and project management of Afcon infrastructure to the Ministry of Defence,” Murkomen stated.
The CS said the Ministry maintains and manages Nyayo Stadium and Moi Stadium in Kasarani through Sports Kenya.
“The other stadiums are managed by their respective counties, with some receiving national government support,” Murkomen stated.
The Ministry has created a Master Plan for classifying sports infrastructure through Sports Kenya in accordance with international standards.
International stadiums are classified as Category 4 (Over 30,000 ), while national stadiums with a capacity of 15,000 or less fall into Category 3A.
Category 3B includes regional and county stadiums with capacities ranging from 10,000 to less than 15,000.
Community grounds are divided into two categories: Category 1 (less than 5,000 ) and Category 2 (between 5,000 and less than 10,000 ).
Murkomen said the Kenya School of Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) was hired to create standard prototypes for different types of sports stadiums to standardise the development process.
“The prototypes were recently submitted to the Ministry and moving forward, we can plan the development of the facilities with estimated costs, avoiding waste and creating standardised facilities,” he said.
The Ministry was granted permission by the National Treasury to secure the Sports, Arts, and Social Development Fund to finish projects that have stalled and develop others.
This is because it receives no funding from the exchequer for the construction of sports facilities.
“It should be noted by this House that the Ministry doesn’t receive a budgetary allocation from the National Treasury. The resources are sourced from Sports, Arts, and Social Development Fund, with an exception of very minimal support of Sh20 million towards the construction of Malinya Community grounds in Ikolomani, Kakamega county,” he said.
Sports Kenya used a public procurement competitive process to enter into consulting services with various consortiums for architectural design, engineering services and project supervision.
