Part of the perimeter wall at the historic Kapkatet Stadium in Bureti Constituency, Kericho County has collapsed.
The section of the wall bordering retail shops at Kapkatet Trading Centre, came tumbling down due to heavy rain last week.
Construction work at the stadium has remained incomplete for more than 17 years, and local herders have turned it into a cattle grazing ground. When construction work stalled at the stadium years ago, the government had spent more than Sh400 million in upgrading it.
When Nation Sport visited the facility Thursday, the main entrance was locked, and there was no one manning the gates. Locals were driving their heads of cattle through the fallen section of the wall into the stadium to graze.
The collapsed section of the wall measuring about 20 metres has been turned into a temporary entry point to the stadium. Apart from the perimeter wall, the stadium does not have a security fence to keep spectators from accessing the football pitch.
The inside of Kapkatet Stadium on October 15, 2024.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
“The main perimeter wall at the stadium collapsed a week ago ago, and we have not been given directions as to what should be done,” a senior sports officer in Kericho County , who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter said.
The perimeter wall was constructed by National Youth Service personell more than 10 years ago. At the tail end of the last financial year, Sports Kenya advertised for a tender to renovate the stadium and other sports facilities in the country.
The tender floated by Sports Kenya (SK) – reference No. SK/003/2024-2025 - for the proposed construction of Kapkatet Stadium , Kericho County closed on July,12, 2024.
Sports Kenya was established by the Sports Act 2012 with the mandate to harness sports development, encourage and to promote sports in Kenya.
At the time, former Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Ababu Namwamba, Principal Secretary in the ministry Peter Tum and Director General for Sports Kenya Peter Metto stated that the facilitywould be constructed from scratch to the level of a national stadium.
“Kapkatet is an historical ground, well located, and a hotbed of talents and we are in the process of constructing it to international standard,” Namwamba said late last year in Kericho ahead of October 20, 2023 Mashujaa Day celebrations.
