Nandi County assembly has approved the controversial conversion of the historic Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Kapsabet into a market for groceries.

The move by the assembly has been taken despite a unanimous ‘No’ vote by the Nandi community during a public participation held in December 2024.

With the latest developments, former international athletes from the county have resolved to head to take a legal route to help salvage the sports facility as they plan to use the high court to block the move by the county government to convert the iconic field into a fresh vegetable market.

Former veterans’ athletes led by Sammy Kosgei, who held the 800m African for 20 years and former sprinter Hosea Saina representing Kenyan athletes both local and in diaspora have vowed to stop the move.

“We are heading to the high court to preserve Nandi athletics history as it is now clear that it isn’t a question of the stadium but direct attack of the very athletics history of our community,” Kosgei said.

The government is proposing to construct a different new stadium from scratch, that will be located a few kilometres from the old Kipchoge Keino stadium, at the Agricultural Society of Kenya show grounds. The new facility is estimated to cost the state Sh.1.5 billion.

The current stadium, stands at an 8.7 acres area and named after the legendary Olympiad and world champion, legend Kipchoge Keino who started his career at the Kapsabet based field in the early 1950’s.

Keino hails from the nearby Kaptagunyo village in the athletics rich Kilibwoni division in Nandi County christened as the ‘source of champions’.

Their petition is already in the corridors of the high court with Kosgei indicating that all athletes both in Kenya and diaspora are opposed to the conversion of the field into a market. “It is an insult and a stab to the sport, the real reason is in public domain, we can only wish that they leave Kipchoge Keino stadium as is where is…someone in the future might see the importance of preserving our history,” Kosgei said.

Details of their petition has not been revealed, however, during the public participation held at the Eliud Kipchoge training camp, Athletes, the community council of elders and the general pubic opposed the county move.

However, Nandi c county assembly in a special sitting, brushed aside the public participation resolution and went a head to endorse the relocation of the market and bus stage into the stadium paving the way for the court battle. “The stadium is not a priority for the people of Nandi, people need roads, health services be improved, clean water, after all, taking a market next to G.K remand prison, county assembly, lands registry is nothing but a security issue,” Saina asserted.

Many will be waiting to see on whose name the new stadium will be named after, the current was named after Kipchoge Keino because he started his prowess there.