Talanta Sports City Stadium: Government reveals how new 60,000-seater facility will be funded

An artist's impression of the 60,000-seater Talanta Sports City Stadium.

FOOTBALL Talanta Sports City Stadium: Government reveals how new 60,000-seater facility will be funded

Joel Omotto 20:30 - 06.03.2024

The Ministry of Sports has explained how the new Talanta Sports City Stadium will be funded following questions over the cost of the 60,000-seater facility.

The Ministry of Sports has reveled that the construction of Talanta Sports City Stadium will be a public-private partnership and not a wholly-owned government project.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the new 60,000-seater stadium, set to be located in Jamhuri, was presided over by President William Ruto last week, but details about its funding were not revealed.

Now, the Sports Ministry has explained that the government will bring an external investor on board to help finance the project which will be done by China Road and Bridge Corporation in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence and projected to be completed by December 2025.

“What I want to tell you is that this is a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) project that, going forward, will generate funds for this Ministry,” Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum told the National Assembly Committee on Sports, as per Nation.

“The designs are with the defence (Ministry of Defence), they have worked on their procurement mechanism.”

However, Tum as hard pressed by Matungulu MP Stephen Mule to provide the true cost of the facility.

“Bwana Mule, let me promise you that as we do this, let’s give the information in writing as we bring our submission so that we can consult with the Defence (Ministry) and then give you the figures,” he added.

The Talanta City Stadium is one of the two venues earmarked to host matches during the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations which Kenya will co-host alongside Uganda and Tanzania.

The other venue Kenya has set aside for the tournament is Kasarani Stadium, currently under renovation.

During the groundbreaking ceremony of the stadium, Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba revealed that it will cost less that what was spent on the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, which hosted matches during the AFCON 2023, and Rwanda’s Amahoro, whose construction is almost complete.

The 60,000-seater Alassane Ouattara Stadium cost $257 million (Ksh36 billion) while the 45,000-seater Amahoro gobbled Rwandan Franc 160 billion (Ksh17 billion).

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