Puzzle of Eldoret stadium that has gobbled Sh755 million but has no track

A section of Eldoret's 64 Stadium on Friday, May 16. [Stephen Rutto, Standard]

An iconic stadium in the heart of Eldoret, the 'City of Champions' has gobbled up Sh755 million since 2021 but has no running track, a committee of the Senate has learnt.

The Senate's County Public Accounts Committee said it was disheartened by the state of affairs at 64 Stadium which is being upgraded to a state-of-the-art sporting facility at a cost of Sh1.1 billion and was set to be completed in 2022.

64 Stadium hosted top tier football league matches in the 1990s and was among the training grounds for athletes.

The committee led by its chairman Otieno Kajwang said works at the stadium was dissatisfying and reprimanded the county for failing to ensure that the sports infrastructure project was commensurate with the colossal amounts of money spent on it hitherto.

During a tour of the stalled 64 Stadium on Friday, the Senate committee was greeted with shock in a facility that had incomplete terraces, a wishy-washy pitch and no running track.

Kajwang said during the grilling of Uasin Gishu County executives in Eldoret on Saturday that the stadium was a white elephant.

"Sh750 million has been used in a stadium that nobody is using. There is no track to run on. That is a white elephant," he argued.

The committee chairman said during the grilling session held at the Uasin Gishu County Assembly that the stalling of the modern stadium that started in 2021 was a letdown to sports talents yearning for facilities.

"64 Stadium should have already been delivered so that the sporting talents of Uasin Gishu can truly live up to the motto of City of Champions," Kajwang said.

He added: "Homa Bay Stadium (which will host this year's Madaraka Day on June 1) is almost complete. There is no reason why 64 Stadium is incomplete."

The Senate committee asked county assemblies to enhance scrutiny of sports infrastructure projects and put governors to task.

The Kajwang-led committee was told that Sh380 million was required to complete the stalled stadium.

"A visual assessment indicates that the project cannot be at 70 percent although 70 percent of the money has been paid," he said.

Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua questioned why Sh755 million had been sunk and whose works were not commensurate with the huge amount of cash.

"If Sh770 million has been spent on 64 Stadium so far, then this will be the shoddiest ever project in Kenya. Metals are protruding from the terraces and there is nothing that is worth the said amount," Wambua said.

A team of county officials had promised the committee on Friday that the stadium would be completed by December 8.

But Governor Jonathan Bii triggered more questions after he told the Senate team a day later (on Saturday) that his administration, due to budgetary constraints, will only allocate Sh100 million out of the required Sh380 million to complete construction.

"The county will allocate Sh100 million this coming financial year because there are many other flagship projects which will be affected if we channel all our resources on the stadium," Bii said, further compounding fears that the sports facility might not be completed in December this year as earlier promised.

Bii said the stadium was initially to be financed jointly by Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP), a World Bank-funded initiative and the county government.

Governor Bii said the World Bank-funding programme, however, ended before 64 Stadium was completed, leaving Uasin Gishu with the burden of finalising the remaining works.

"Our development budget is Sh3.5 billion and out of it, 40 per cent is allocated to the wards and what is remaining is for the flagship projects. But despite the challenges, we will do anything possible to ensure that the project is completed," he assured the committee.

Top county officials told the Senate County Public Accounts Committee during the probe that Sh70 million was allocated to the stalled stadium in the 2024-2025 financial year.

The committee was also told by the county executive that KUSP spent Sh380 million on the stalled 64 stadium while the county has channeled Sh385 million.

Committee vice chairman Johnes Mwaruma had said on Friday that the contractor of 64 Stadium was not on site despite receiving the huge allocation.

"We hope that the contractor will return to the site from Monday (yesterday). There is no value for money until this project is done and completed," a member of the committee, Okongo Mogeni, said during a tour of the project.

Senator Samson Cherargei said it was impossible that the project had consumed Sh755 million, yet it was still at initial stages.

According to the designs shared in 2021, the stadium was expected to have a pavilion, roofed terraces and an eight-lane track and pitch.

Uasin Gishu County has also put on the spot over the stalled Chagaiya High Altitude Training Centre in Kesses.

Governor Bii told the Senate committee that the multi-million Chagaiya training camp was abandoned after athletes refused to train there, citing a too high altitude. The area is located 2000m above sea level, lower than major training bases such as Iten (2400m), Kaptagat (2500m), Kapsait (2800m) and Kapsabet (1900m).