Move to change Kipchoge Keino Stadium, Kapsabet, elicited mixed reactions in Nandi.

By Cornelias Keter

The county move to change Kipchoge Keino Stadium and Showground land has elicited mixed reactions in Nandi.

 

Following the adoption of the Kapsabet Municipality Master Plan by the County Assembly, the county is set to roll out the expansion of the Central Business District (CBD) and implementation of National Government programs in the County town headquarters.

 

The proposals have been made to relocate the existing market in town to 8.7 acres of Kipchoge Keino Stadium and put up a state-of-the-art market estimated to gobble Sh. 350 million.

However, the presumed 15,000-capacity sport complex with an indoor arena will take up 25 acres of Kapsabet Showground land.

 

But this has been met with backlash as the residents reject the municipality development master plan owing to interference with the iconic public utilities regarded as the embodiment of athletics and agricultural features of the community.

 

The relocation of the market in the CBD will pave the way for the expansion of the bus terminal that is currently congested and inconvenient to business.

 

Fred Kipkemboi, a resident, claimed that the relocation of the market center in the CBD to Kipchoge Keino Stadium will expose learning institutions to environmental hazards.

 

Among the institutions that will be affected are AC Tagat Primary School, AC Tegat Junior School, Kapsabet Muslim School, and Kapsabet township.

 

“Having a market near the schools is disastrous. The learners will be distracted by noises and garbage materials that will be disposed of in school environs, and we need the county to reconsider this and purchase another land to put up the market project,” he stated.

 

He said the framers of the municipality master plan ignored critical facilities housing over 2,000 learners and argued that the environmental issues will inevitably hinder its implementation process.

Kapsabet Showground was a traditional facility used to host agricultural showbiz and farmers’ field days, but since then, the gardens have been abandoned, and churches are using it to hold their events.

 

The chair for the Football Kenya Federation in Nandi, Lattif Korir, said that relocation of the training center means being ungracious to the retired track and field athlete, Kipchoge Hezekiah Keino; the stadium was named after him.

 

“The county was willing to elevate it to a standard level that could cost Sh. 100 million, but the change of plan was misplaced. We are going to lose what we remember of Kenya’s pioneers in track races,” he lamented.

 

He said that the stadium had been the training grounds for football players in Kapsabet town and its environs and called upon the county to refurbish instead of relocating it.

 

However, showground activities, including farmers training services, will be relocated to Kaimosi Agricultural Training College, which is poised to be elevated as the regional agricultural center.