‘Govt should not own stadiums’ – CS Murkomen tells MPs

Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has put forward a proposition aimed at privatising and commercialising stadiums in the country.

Speaking at the National Assembly, where he appeared to answer questions raised by Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, Murkomen opined that stadiums should not be owned by the government.

While referring to the United Kingdom, where most stadiums are owned by private companies, Murkomen argued that they would be profitable under that arrangement.

CS Murkomen submitted that at the moment, the stadiums have not hit their potential, hence depending on the government to allocate money for their rehabilitation and maintenance.

Under private and commercial arrangements, Murkomen indicated that stadiums would be self-sufficient through the different monetisation policies that would have been adopted by the firms running them, hence saving taxpayers’ money.

“The government should not be owning stadia; that is my personal position. All over the world, governments don’t own stadiums; it is costing a lot of money to the taxpayer without so much return,” Murkomen said.

“But if it was owned by the private sector, they would commercialise it, and then it would be available for sports activities. In a country like the UK, the only stadium that is owned by the government is Wembley; the rest is owned by private facilities, and this is the way to go,” he added.

“Not after every 10 years we should be putting billions of money into refurbishing facilities that would have been income-generating,” the CS further explained.

Review sports policy

To shoulder the burden of maintaining and repairing stadiums after a certain period, Murkomen informed the MPs that his ministry is exploring ways of collaborating with the private sector.

Murkomen detailed that the Ministry of Sports is reviewing the sports policy, which will then help come up with the best possible way for building and maintaining sporting facilities in the country.

“We are exploring ways of collaborating with the private sector to enable them to construct modern sports infrastructure. The ongoing review of the sports policy would provide clarity on this matter.

“We are reviewing the sports policy to know how best the private sector can do the stadiums,” he insisted.

Murkomen expressed the sentiments while giving the status of various sporting facilities in the country. The CS lamented that most stadiums had stalled and others had extended beyond the agreed construction period.

Besides the setbacks, the former Transport CS assured the MPs that the country will be ready to host the CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) scheduled to commence on February 1, 2025, to February 28, 2025 and AFCON 2027.