Why stalled Kamariny Stadium is ‘killing talent’

In Summary

• In 2016, Elgeyo-Marakwet County allocated Sh60 million to construct a pavilion and to improve the running track, but midway through, the national government announced that it would build a new modern stadium at the site.
• Iten boasts of a conducive environment for distance running training with a number of world beaters having taken advantage of these conditions.

Serially broken promises by both the national and county governments have left Kamariny Stadium in Iten, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, as an empty shell.

This has forced athletes to train along roads as the coronavirus pandemic continues to bite.

An earth road leading to the stadium itself is in a sorry state thanks to the rains that has been pounding the area.

A broken gate sealed with iron sheets, perhaps to prevent animals from gaining access to the construction site, welcomes you to this famous stadium.

Tucked a few metres to a sharp escarpment overlooking the scenic Kerio Valley with fresh air blowing from the valley, Kamariny Stadium is now left with mounds of soil around it and the neglected uneven grounds were left by the contractor in 2017.

There’s some training going on inside the stadium, but the athletes are forced to use the inner lane, which is dangerous given the stones and boulders lined up along what is left of the dirt track.

Incomplete terraces, with an envisaged capacity of 2,000, at the eastern wing signal what would have been an international sports complex.

‘Paperwork has been done’

Behind the terraces structure is another building housing changing rooms for men and women and an office constructed by the county government.

When excavators roared in 2017 after the project was awarded to a contractor, athletes were glad that they would soon use a modern stadium, but that was not to be four years later.

But during her tour in Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret on Thursday, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said the paperwork for the Kamariny project has been done and soon the project will commence.

“President Uhuru Kenyatta wants to see progress on the sports facilities which have taken long to complete.

“Kamariny Stadium is one of them and I will be visiting the project next week because we are now done with paperwork and works should be resuming anytime from now,” said Amina.

With the closure of the stadium, many athletes are now forced to travel to the Tambach Teachers Training College track, University of Eldoret and Moi University-Annex Campus for training.

There is also Lorna Kiplagat Sports Academy stadium which is a private property and one has to pay a tidy sum to use the well laid tartan track.

These are the only good tracks in a region that has nurtured many world beaters.

In 2016, Elgeyo-Marakwet County allocated Sh60 million to construct a pavilion and to improve the running track, but midway through, the national government announced that it would build a new modern stadium at the site.

Iten boasts of a conducive environment for distance running training with a number of world beaters having taken advantage of these conditions.