When President Uhuru Kenyatta officially launched the construction of Ruring’u stadium in Nyeri County on June 22, 2017, his promise was that it would be completed in six months, but two years later the project has stalled at 30 per cent with no activity on site.
The launch ceremony was a climax of a series of activities including the transfer and issuance of the 19 acre property title deed from the former owner Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) to the Nyeri County government.
The event fit into the then campaign season mood and was staged at Dedan Kimathi stadium. It marked the end of a two-decade ownership row between ASK, the then Nyeri municipal council and later the county government.
Those wrangles according to former Nyeri municipality mayor Edward Muteru deterred funding to develop the stadium for many years.
“Some funds which were meant for developing the stadium had even been diverted to other areas due to the ownership row. This denied Nyeri people development opportunities especially real estate and sports,” he said.
From the early 1980s, the stadium was the venue for Central ASK shows until 1998 when the fair was moved to Kabiruini grounds to accommodate more exhibitors and activities.
Since that time, it was turned to a venue that mainly hosted prayers and rallies as the ASK collected rent from individuals and companies whose structures were used as exhibition stands for various corporations.
When the show was moved to Kabiruini, the agreement was that the government would issue a title deed for Kabiruini to ASK in exchange of the Ruring’u one so that the stadium could be reverted to its original purpose but that turned out to be a long process and full blown war between the local government and ASK over who should manage the stadium.
The stadium is usually referred in sports circles as one of the birthplaces of various athletics greats having been the incubator for many former and current stars in the country including world marathon beater Catherine Ndereba, former 10,000m world champion Charles Kamathi, former national 5000m champion Gideon Gathimba among others.
For many years, the stadium has been a key training ground for many police champions from the Kenya Police College Kiganjo, the Kenya prisons and also Laikipia Airbase athletes who have flocked to the stadium to gain high altitude advantage.
It has also been a venue for many local and regional competitions for both community and institutions due to its strategic and central location.
A few days after the commissioning by the President at the height of the 2017 campaign season, earthmovers and other heavy machineries started excavating the grounds with impressive momentum that filled locals with hope that the one year deadline was something they could take to the bank.
But the joke seems to be on the people of Nyeri, as two years down the line, there is nothing but a wide hole with iron sheets fence all around it and heaps of red soil all over.
The megaproject was meant to upgrade the stadium to international status with IAAF standards for the athletics track in a bid to promote sports especially athletics and volleyball in the region at an estimated cost of Sh480 million.
During the late Nyeri governor Wahome Gakuru’s burial ceremony at Kagumo High school on November 18, 2017, Mutahi Kahiga who was has since gone on to take over from his former boss urged the President to intervene and authorise the completion of the stadium which had already stalled by then due to an electricity line hanging perilously on one side of the stadium.
The President directed the involved parties, the Kenya Power and the contractor to resolve the issue but even after the power line was moved, very little happened before the project was yet again stalled, this time hit by a shortage of funds.
More empty promises were made during the Wahome Gakuru memorial race on November 11, 2018, which was graced by Deputy President William Ruto and Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga. The event marked the start of a long silence over the construction of stadium since no progress has been made to date. As matter of fact, there is no single piece of machinery on site.
If it will ever be complete, it will be the biggest sports arena in the region with the ability to be used as a training ground for national and international sporting events.
During a site visit on October 9 last year, Sports Principal Secretary Kirimi Kaberia said that due to its proximity to Nairobi, the stadium also had the potential to be used as a warm-up venue during international championships.
Kaberia’s visit brought with it many promises and declarations during a boardroom meeting with Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga in his office in Nyeri.
“The money is there and I can assure you it is a matter of distribution now from the treasury,” said Kaberia.
He said that the stadium’s design will capture a sense of national heritage and history with a state of the art studio to accommodate more activities for the youth.
When the project was started, the Sports docket was under Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario, then it was handed over to Rashid Echesa and is now under Ambassador Amina Mohamed.
The delay according to contractor Sam Mwaniki will double the cost since a lot of work will have to be redone.
“We were done with clearing, excavation and we were compacting the grounds ready for the top layer. Now we have to redo it because the ground has been compromised by the weather,” said Mwaniki.
He withdrew all his machinery and human labour from the site about a year ago leaving only a caretaker at the gate.
Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga disclosed that he has been trying to reach out to the national government for the inclusion of the stadium in the 2019/2020 budget. The county government has since began constructing a perimeter wall at a cost of Sh50 million.
Last month, Athletics Kenya was on the verge of cancelling the first leg of the national track and field meeting due to the poor state of the old track.
“The government needs to commit and complete the stadium for sports to develop in this region. This is where it starts and that is why many runners attended this event,” said Central region AK secretary David Miano.
