Kasarani Stadium's renovation is on course to be completed by the end of the year after Namwamba saw encouraging signs about the progression in his latest visit on Wednesday.
Kasarani Stadium is right on course in efforts to have it completely refurbished by 2025, Sports CS Ababu Namwamba has confirmed.
The arena, which was opened in 1987 for the All Africa Games which took place that year, has been confirmed as one of the venues that will host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations following the successful East Africa Pamoja bid to bring the continent’s premier competition to the region.
Ababu was inspecting the facility on Wednesday afternoon to check on the progress of renovations after the stadium was closed in December to commence renovations and has so far been encouraged by the speed.
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Speaking during the visit, Pius Meto, the director general of Sports Kenya, the organisation which oversees stadia management in the country, briefed the press on the situation as it stands.
“We have actually done stripping off of the roof, the contractor has also removed the seats in preparation to give room for sky folding to support the roofing,” Meto said.
“We have assured waziri that we are on course and this project is going to be completed as per schedule.
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It now means all sporting events, such as the annual Kipchoge Keino classic will not be taking place at Kasarani during that period.
Namwamba himself added that the hope is to have the stadium finished as soon as possible before they commence refurbishing Nyayo Stadium.
“At this pace, we should certainly be able to see a sparkling new look Kasarani by December this year - December 2024 - which is the scheduled time for completion of the refurbishment.
"We have gone round the stadium and we have indeed confirmed that all works are on track.
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“Kasarani is completely stripped. Canopy gone, seats gone, toilets, changing rooms demolished and the whole place does look like a construction site that it is.
“We gave the assurance right from the beginning that we will be ready for AFCON 2027 and from what can be seen in here, we are perfectly on track to hit the target of completing the refurbishment works in time.”
Namwamba had previously stated Kasarani Stadium would be inaccessible for use for the next 16-18 months, but it now looks as if the arena could be re-opened earlier than that.
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