Budding sports talents in Othaya Constituency will soon benefit from a state-of-the-art facility, following the commissioning of a 700-capacity stadium by Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki.
The stadium is one of the projects that President Dr William Ruto promised to deliver to the residents during his developmental tour of the Central Region in April this year.
The facility is being constructed at a cost of Sh 55 million. According to the contractor, it will take four months to complete.
It will feature a standard football pitch with natural grass and four multi-purpose courts which will be utilised for volleyball, basketball, tennis and handball.
It will also have an athletics track, an indoor multi-purpose hall for hosting meetings, fine arts theatre performances and indoor games.
Speaking in Nyeri when he accompanied the DP for the groundbreaking ceremony, Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said that besides nurturing local sports talents, the facility will act as a platform for building the country’s talent scouting network where the scouts will be able to identify and recruit top talents from the constituency.
“The government’s manifesto has given consideration for talents ranging from sports to music and many others. Through such initiatives, scouts will now be able to visit counties, identify talents in different disciplines and sign up the budding athletes into national leagues where they can start to make money from their skills,” stated the CS.
Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi, who was also present during the event, cautioned contractors working to uplift various sports infrastructure in the country to international standards against delivering shoddy work.
Similarly, he also asked the contractors to ensure that they deliver complete stadiums in time, as the Ministry will not be granting time extensions at the lapse of the agreed timelines.
“I want to caution contractors who have given us the commitment that the various stadiums we are constructing will be complete and that there will be no extension,” said Mwangi.
By Wangari Mwangi and Samuel Maina
