The Sports Kenya has raised a red flag over the delayed completion of Ruring’u Stadium in Nyeri County where works has been ongoing since commencement three years ago.
Speaking during a fact finding mission on the current status of the S
tadium on Tuesday a Sports Kenya Director, Mwangi Muthee lamented that the contractor had lagged behind schedule though paid.
Muthee said Kenyans and Nyeri people in particular are not happy with continued delay of the completion of the stadium, one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s pledges of development of building and upgrading Stadia across the country.
“The President is not happy, Kenyans are not happy and even Sports Kenya we are not happy. We want to make sure that this work is completed as soon as possible,” Muthee said.
The Director added that Kenya is a sporting country and needed modern infrastructure that could serve various sports, citing Cricket,Rugby and Hockey among others.
He noted that Ruring’u Stadium was a prime place for expansion and more developments are lined up in the future.
Muthee said the infrastructures that the government is putting are Kenya and international sports. He said Nyeri is a high altitude area and would like to see international athletes coming from Europe to camp and train in the area.
“The infrastructure is what is lacking and once we have the infrastructure in place, you will see the sports tourism developing,” Muthee said.
Speaking during the same occasion, the Nyeri County Commissioner (CC), Loyford Kibaara warned that unspecified action would be taken against the contractor if he failed to deliver the Stadium by September 30, this year.
Kibaara disclosed that the government had paid the contractor all his dues and had no excuse not to complete the stadium by the said date.
However, speaking to the press separately, the Contractor, Sam Mwaniki disputed the Commissioner’s assertion, saying that the government pays on interim basis.
“You do work and get paid, do work again and get paid and there is no time that you will be paid a lump sum,” Mwaniki stated.
He thanked the government for sorting out financial payment hiccups that had persisted since the inception of the project and promised to deliver the field and tracks by end of September this year.
By Mwangi Gaitha
