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The renovation of Moi Stadium in Embu County for the upcoming Madaraka Day celebrations is expected to cost around Sh300 million.
The stadium will be able to host 20,000 guests and is being overseen by a contractor who is employing close to 300 people at various stages of construction. 95% of the workers are locals from Embu County.
During a physical tour of Embu County with the National Celebrations Committee, which he chairs, Interior Principal Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo clarified that the celebrations will no longer be held at Njukiri Grounds due to cost and time constraints.
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The grounds are however currently serving as a workshop for precast slabs for benches among other infrastructure needed in readiness of Moi Stadium.
“We expect that within the next 45 days, the structure will be up, and the rest of the amenities put together. Already there is a lot of work going on. Hosting the celebrations at Njukiri would have required an additional two months which we do not have,” said PS Omollo added.
However, the promise to construct the international stadium is still on course.
President William Ruto will launch the groundbreaking of the project during his visit as Kenya commemorates its 60th Madaraka Day Celebrations.
According to PS Omollo, the government also announced the change of the event's theme from Universal Health Coverage to celebrating SMEs.
“We have changed the theme for this year’s celebrations from Universal Health Coverage to focus on the SMEs so that we can improve on the economy, which is one of the biggest challenges. So, for the people of Embu, this is another opportunity to look at how we can be able to spur the economy of this county, not just in Embu town,” he said.
The PS who also serves as the Chair of the National Celebrations Committee was accompanied by his fellow Principal Secretaries Jonathan Mueke (Sports), Patrick Mariru (Defence), Eng. Joseph Mbugua (Roads) among other senior government officials.
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Also in attendance was Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire, who expressed her satisfaction with the ongoing works ahead of the celebrations to be held in Embu County for the first time.
“We are convinced that with the infrastructure that has been placed right at Njukiri Grounds, the construction will move quite fast. We are now fully on course and this job should be done in the next one and a half months,” she said.