Ruto Revisits Promise Of 9 Stadiums By Uhuru Govt
Ruto was speaking during the unveiling of the 70th anniversary of the Safari Rally and the launch of the Sports and Creative Economic Plan- Talanta Hela.
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President William Ruto on Friday, June 9 declared that he would deal with the contentious issue of nine stadia which he and former President Uhuru Kenyatta had promised in 2013 in the Jubilee Party manifesto but didn't bear fruit.
Ruto was speaking during the unveiling of the 70th anniversary of the Safari Rally and the launch of the Sports and Creative Economic Plan- Talanta Hela.
The Head of State lamented how the controversial promise was constantly used against him by Kenyans despite previously stating that the promise was a Jubilee government promise and not a personal one.
He committed to getting to the bottom of the issue of the stadia and involved Sports Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ababu Namwamba in his quest to end a 10-year-old unmet promise.
President Ruto and CS Ababu Namwamba enjoy entertainment during the Talanta Hela launch at State House, Nairobi on June 9, 2023. /WILLIAM RUTO
"There is a subject that has always been used against me, the stadiums. Now I am here, and I am going to sort out the stadiums.
"I have told my good friend Ababu here since this was a big problem, every time there was something..."wapi (where is) stadium?" Now, we will demonstrate to you what it is," he promised.
The Head of State further noted that the stadia won't just be set aside for sports; be it football or athletics, but also for all creativity to thrive, teasing the possibility of concerts held in stadia, similar to a section of developed countries as well as creatives to showcase their craft during sporting events.
"We will demonstrate to you how we are going to do it, and how it is going to become the epicentre of not just football occasionally, not just athletics occasionally, it is going to be the epicentre of all creative economy interventions making sure that it works for everybody and it works always," he addressed.
How Did The Promise Of 9 Stadia Fail?
The nine stadia have been arguably one of President Ruto's greatest shortcomings as the Deputy President to Uhuru, his then-boss, with the Jubilee government having not delivered on their pledges in their first term, which also included the refurbishment of all the existing facilities.
They re-committed to actualizing their promise during their bid for their eventual re-election in 2017.
"In six months’ time, the stadium in Wote will be complete. In three months’ time, the stadium in Chuka will be complete. In three months’ time, the stadium in Moyale will be complete. The stadium in Kamariny in West Pokot which is historic will be complete," said Ruto while addressing the nation in 2013.
"In a couple of months, the stadium in Eldoret will be complete. In Nyeri, there was a challenge with the title and now the program has been rolled. In another three-four months, the stadium will be complete. We have a small challenge in Mombasa because the county government has issues of ownership of the land but the contracts are complete."
"There is a small challenge in Kisumu because of the dumping site that needs to be relocated. Instead of five stadiums, we went for nine," he added.
On January 23, 2020, during an interview with NTV, Ruto revealed that the stadiums could not be built because the money set aside for them was directed to other government projects, dismissing claims that he lied to Kenyans.
"Most of these stadiums have been built though not complete, go to Wote, the stadium has been built though it is not complete...I can assure you as an administration we will deliver on this promise in a short while so that in 2022 you will find something else to ask," he stated at the time.
Ruto attributed the delays to an anticipated repeat presidential election which he claimed cost the government Ksh15 billion, hence destabilising its development kitty. He also claimed some of the stadiums got stuck after a dispute with contractors ensued resulting in protracted court tussles.
Ruto however shielded the Jubilee administration from criticism on the subject, arguing they had delivered on most of the promises they made to the people of Kenya.
"Assuming it is true we failed to deliver on the stadiums and delivered the other eight, have we failed? This is the only project you have consistently been using against us because you have looked at all the other promises we made and you have not found any other thing," he countered Ken Mijungu, a news anchor now working at KTN.
In 2019, during an interview with K24, Ruto assured that the stadium project was on course and that the government was working on 11 stadiums instead of nine.
On Wednesday, May 31, President Ruto's administration launched Moi Stadium in Embu just in time for the Madaraka Day celebrations on Thursday, June 1, with CS Namwamba revealing that upgrades on the Ksh476 million-worth stadium took 15 weeks to complete.
