This archive report was first published on 10 July 2020.
Rehabilitation work at the stalled Kipchoge Keino stadium in Uasin Gishu has resumed after the contractor, Shiv construction company, returned to the site following negotiations by the government.
The stadium, named after athlete Kipchoge Keino, has a capacity of 10,000 people and is located in Eldoret, Kenya.
According to Robinson Ochieng, a representative of Shiv construction company, the contractor has already been paid Ksh 32 million from a pending bill of Ksh 55 million.
Rehabilitation of the stadium stalled in 2017 due to non-payment, but the contractor has agreed to resume work following negotiations with the Ministry of Sports.
Ochieng stated that they are prepared to complete the work by November and have asked the government to honour its pledge to pay the balance of Sh. 22.9 million as soon as possible.
"This is a debt that has been pending for more than three years and we hope that the government will honour its pledge to clear the payments," Ochieng said.
He added that they have already started backfilling and the first slab will be ready by next week.
"By the end of November, we will complete the structure from ground floor to the roof of the third floor," Ochieng said.
The total cost for the rehabilitation is Sh. 325 million.
Uasin Gishu county commissioner Abdirisak Jaldesa directed the construction company to ensure it undertakes quality work as much as it is hastening the completion of the project.
"We hope that the project will this time round be complete and we will be able to hold national events as a county," Jaldesa said.
The stadium was one of President Uhuru Kenyatta's legacy projects and is also important for sportsmen and women from the county.
In January 2017, Sports Kenya and the County Government of Uasin Gishu signed an agreement to renovate the stadium with works set to cover the VIP terraces, changing rooms, a conference hall, indoor games hall and terraces for between 15,000 to 25,000 spectators.
