Local sports lovers are in for a treat as renovated Nyayo Stadium is set to be completed and officially handed over by contractors in a week’s time.

The stadium has been closed for close to four years as it was earmarked as one of the nine facities to get a facelift that matches standards of world football governing body Fifa, to be able to host international matches.

A visit to the facility and Kasarani Stadium yesterday by the Parliamentary Committee on Sports saw the committee give both facilities a clean bill of health as they agreed that the two land marks would be fully completed in a week’s time.

Kasarani was closed in March this year to allow renovations in anticipation of the 2020 World Under-20 Athletics Championships and the Continental Tour.

Pleased with work

The Committee led by its chairman who is also the Machakos Town Member of Parliament Victor Munyaka expressed satisfaction with the work so far done while at the same time saying it was concerned with the maintenance and the destruction threat posed by hooliganism like witnessed at Kasarani in March during the ‘Mashemeji Derby’ between league rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. 

“The committee is pleased by the progress of the work at Nyayo National Stadium and we have been assured that in the next one week, the contractor will be able to hand over the keys and it will be ready to use as soon as the issues of COVID-19 are finished,” Munyaka said. 

He however added: “One key thing and this committee has discussed is that for this good investment to be protected we need investment on crowd control and security within the stadia and its environs so that we don’t have hooligans coming in to destroy the property.” 

The threat of the plastic seats all round the stadium as well as the glass exterior at the Main VIP entrance have been touted as possible target by hooligans, same challenge the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani has faced. 

Meanwhile, Webuye East MP Dan Wanyama, a former national volleyball team captain, called on Sports Kenya to contract a private firm to work on the facility’s maintenance to do a better job. 

Sports Kenya was represented at the tour by Director General Pius Metto and chairman Fred Muteti.