Nairobi — Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba says Kenyans will have to suffer for a while as the government rehabilitates the country's dilapidated stadia.
Namwamba said the temporary pain is a product of decades of neglect of Kenya's sporting facilities, which will require patience to restore to the highest standards.
"We have to undergo some temporary pain while we fix this decades-old period of neglect. It will be temporary pain but by the time we are done we will have a permanent fix to the challenges facing our stadia," the CS said.
Namwamba lamented the lackadaisical attitude with which successive governments have treated the country's sporting facilities.
"For many years, this country has neglected to invest sufficiently in our sports facilities. We built Nyayo Stadium and Kasarani, 40 years ago and then we let them lie there without any refurbishing. Even your home, you have to refurbish it occasionally otherwise it will start leaking. So, Nyayo and Kasarani have reached a level they just can't hack it and that's why I have closed them," he said.
His comments come in the aftermath of widespread concerns over the lack of a world-class sporting facility to host major sporting events.
The national football team, Harambee Stars, are set to host their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Burundi and Ivory Coast in Malawi whereas uncertainty remains over the venue of the national trials for the Paris Olympics in June.
This follows the closure of Nyayo and Kasarani for renovations even as the country's continues to prepare for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations -- to be co-hosted with Uganda and Tanzania.
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Namwamba admitted he appreciates and shares in the concerns of Kenyans regarding Stars' inability to play Burundi and Ivory Coast on home soil.
"I know that Kenyans have had a lot of concerns about the state of Kenyan stadia. They have expressed concerns of our national teams playing away from home. That is the price we pay for 60 years of neglect," he said.
Nonetheless, the CS promised Kenyans they would be smiling at the end of the year when Nyayo National Stadium and Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani will be reopened to international standards.
"They are undergoing major refurbishing to be reopened at the end of this year. By the time we reopen them, they will have returned to the highest level of international status," he said.
Apart from Nyayo and Kasarani, the government is also constructing a brand new 60,000-seater Talanta Stadium along Ngong Road in readiness for Afcon 2027.
