Government reveals plans to maintain Talanta Stadium and other Kenyan arenas

Ministry of Sports Principal Secretary, Elijah Mwangi, says the government has developed a master plan for constructing stadia to ensure high standards of sporting facilities.

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Mwangi said the master plan has been developed by the Kenya School of Technical, Industrial, Vocational, and Entrepreneurship Training (TIVET) and is now being used in building sporting facilities across the country.

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“It is true that some of the facilities, especially those built in the counties, were not upto standards, but now that has changed with the development of the master plan,” he said during an interview with a local TV station.

Mwangi further revealed that the ministry, together with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), has sent a team to several counties to ensure that the new facilities are built up to the required standards.

He said the ministry is also consulting local federations to ensure that the stadia are in line with the requirements of their international affiliates.

“We are working with Athletics and Football Kenya Federation (FKF) even as we build these stadia to ensure they are up to the required standards set by their international bodies.”

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To ensure the sustainability of the facilities, Mwangi said they are looking at involving the private sector to develop and maintain them while sharing any collected revenue with the government.

“We don’t want the facilities to fall into disrepair after being built, but to ensure proper maintenance, we want to involve the private sector to build and maintain and share revenue with the government.

“We now have a new Director General of Sports Kenya, and one of his mandates is to look into different models of ensuring that our facilities remain in good shape,” he added.

He revealed that the swimming pool at Nyayo Stadium, which has not been in use for a while now, is one of the facilities they are looking to lease out to a private entity for management.

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Regarding the welfare of sports personalities, Mwangi said the ministry has always kept its word on rewarding medalists and will maintain the practice as the winners bring great glory to the country.

“Last year alone, we paid more than Ksh55million to past medalists. It is an ongoing process, and we are fully determined to compensate our medalists for the great work they do to lift up the name of the country,” he said.