Stadium a vital venture

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As a top sporting nation that continues to excel globally, especially in athletics, this country needs top stadia and other facilities.

The 60,000-seater Raila Odinga International Stadium in Talanta Sports City in Nairobi, set to open officially in January, is a great development.

It offers an opportunity to market the country’s vast tourist attractions by wooing sports enthusiasts from around the world. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that top European football teams are expected to grace the opening of the stadium.

A historic friendly match between German soccer giants Bayern Munich and leading Dutch team Ajax Amsterdam has been scheduled for the stadium’s launch day, January 5, next year.

The stadium has been built to international standards like stadia in the developed world, as a flagship venue for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which Kenya will co-host with Uganda and Tanzania.

It is, indeed, one of the best facilities on the continent, competing favourably with those developed in West Africa and in the north.

Named after the late opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, it promises to provide an opportunity to create new businesses and jobs and boost tourism revenue.

This is a new economic centre where traders, transport operators, hotels, restaurants, event organisers and other businesses stand to earn money whenever major events are held.

However, there has been some public scepticism over this venture. It centres primarily on the apparently aggressive cost escalations, untendered procurement, the funding mode and some of the long-term financial risks that have been flagged by oversight bodies.

It is important to reveal the details of the arrangements, including possible private shareholding that enabled the building of this sports centre.

The people deserve to know the details of the initiative and how they can forge beneficial long-term partnerships.

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