Revival of the stalled Marsabit stadium project on course

Marsabit,

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

KNA by Sebastian Miriti

The Kenya Kwanza Administration is keen at reviving the stalled Marsabit Stadium project, in order to provide the much needed sporting infrastructure and facilities in the area.

Sports and Youth Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS), Ababu Namwamba, directed that an immediate assessment of the works already done is undertaken, with a view to establishing the next cause of action to complete the project.

Speaking at the site when he toured the delayed project, Namwamba said the Department of Public Works and a team of technical officials from the County Government would start assessing the requisite integrity of the construction works carried out on the VIP pavilion, the pitch, track and the public pavilion and give advice on the next cause of action.

The CS who was accompanied by the Marsabit Governor, Mohamud Ali, said the assessment by the teams will inform on the direction the government would take, including to either proceed with the delayed work or to start the project afresh. 

While the fraction of works on the public pavilion and the playing field done by Benisa Limited seemed notable, the main pavilion by Arid Lands Contractors looks terrifying, as cracks have formed and the dais has tilted.

The later which was engaged by the County Government to do the VIP pavilion at a cost of Sh78 millions and advanced Sh46 million in mobilization fee, has been on the spotlight after the National Construction Authority (NCA), questioned the integrity of the work.

Benisa Limited, was contracted by Sports Kenya, to build public pavilions together with putting-up the main pitch to international standards, at a cost of Sh295 million, upon which the flagship project was commissioned by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in Mid-2017.

Namwamba expressed concern that such an important facility along with six others across the country, had stalled despite public resources having been released to fund it.

He said that President William Ruto’s Administration hands-on approach in doing business, was aimed at ensuring that the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), succeeded as opposed to the habit of pumping money into projects without monitoring.

“You get what you inspect and not what you fund,” he said, addeding that the new costing of the project, would be determined by the report from the technical team.

The CS assured the residents of Marsabit, that the project would be revived and completed within five weeks, if the existing structures were found to have been done to the required standards.

From the assessment carried out today, the CS said, the pitch will be done from scratch, starting with planting of grass, while the athletics track whose tartan was poorly done, requires replacement.

Namwamba pointed out that the country’s sports trajectory, was on the right track and cautioned that rogue contractors, would not be allowed to derail it.  

The CS who was particularly upset by the inferior quality of the tartan track, intimated that the government would be considering seeking new contractors, with Governor Ali also stating that his Administration would not be doing further business with the current service provider.

The Governor welcomed the effective monitoring and evaluation approach being applied by the Kenya Kwanza government, in the implementation of development projects, saying it was bound to accelerate growth in the country.

He said that the people of Marsabit, were eager to see the construction of the 15,000 capacity sporting facility completed, so as to promote meaningful sporting in the County.

Governor Ali noted that the stadium was expected to stimulate the economy of the County, through sporting activities such as athletics and ball games, as many local youth possessed talent which remains untapped.

The almost seven year old project, had offered about 270 skilled and unskilled jobs, before it stalled for reasons yet to be explained.

Also present during the tour was the Sports Kenya Director General, Pius Meto. 

Courtesy; KNA