The government has made strides in delivering the stadiums promised to Kenyans during the 2017 elections with Kinoru Stadium getting a Ksh900 million facelift in the nationwide promise.
Located in Meru county the stadium, the facility is expected to meet international standards with a capacity of 30,000.
Granted, the construction process has faced challenges with it stalling along the way but by the end of 2020 most of the works were complete.
The renovation was first commissioned for renovation in 2014, by the then Meru Governor Peter Munya. It would then take seven months for the first phase of the renovation to be completed at a cost of Ksh200m.
The stadium was earmarked to host the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) but slow works made the Confederation of African Football (CAF) shift the competition to Morocco.
The stadium underwent a massive upgrade to increase its capacity with the necessary player and spectator facilities.
The stadium has four changing rooms for teams and an extra two for officials. It also has VIP Lounges, a press conference room, and a media tribune.
Once fully opened it will have additional basketball, netball, tennis, and volleyball courts.
"The national government continues to invest in sports as a platform for nurturing talent, promoting healthy living, employment, entertainment and promotion of positive pride of belonging,"
During a tour of the stadium in July 2020, Sports CS Amina Mohammed urged the contractor to move with speed and ensure that the facility is completed by the set deadline.
The CS noted that it was very unfortunate that it had taken such a long time but added that she was happy with the work done so far as the field will be a model stadium to the rest of the country.
She stated that the whole project cost Ksh900 Million with Ksh200 Million having been spent in the first phase and the second phase taking up Ksh892 million.
Before the renovation works, the stadium was mostly used for soccer matches and other events within Meru County.
The venue also hosted several functions including a Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) event in February 2020.
It has been used by Tusker FC for the Clubs Home Matches in the Kenya Premier League with two more teams, Ulinzi Stars and Wazito FC in October 2020, filed applications to the Meru County government to be allowed to use Kinoru Stadium as their home ground ahead of the start of the new season.
Other stadiums have also been refurbished including the Nyayo National Stadium which was reopened in September by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
"We are currently in the process of completing Jamuhuri Park here in Nairobi, in addition to upgrading sporting facilities in Eldoret, Marsabit, Chuka, Kisumu, Nyeri, Makueni, Kiambu and Kirinyaga Counties. We expect these facilities to be ready for commissioning by the end of December this year," Kenyatta directed.
He added that he was also in discussion with Governors to upgrade facilities in their counties. The head of state indicated that stadiums located in Mombasa, Kakamega, Narok and Kisii Counties will be upgraded to fit stipulated national standards.
