Kirubia Stadium Set For Completion in 4 Months

By Blaise Gitonga

Construction and the ongoing renovation of Kirubia Stadium is expected to be complete in four months, 10 years since initial construction works began at the site.

The multi-million project to build a 4,500-seater stadium has experienced delays both financially and on-site over the years, prompting the government to call for swift action to see construction completed by April 2026.

Speaking during a site visit on December 01, 2025, the Permanent Secretary (PS) State Department for Sports Elijah Mwangi noted the first phase of construction suffered challenges in maintenance, saying the second phase that would see completion of the stadium would include a presidential pavilion and holding rooms as suggested by the Office of the President.

"The President in a previous site visit noted there was no space for a pavilion and holding rooms. Through Sports Kenya, we have identified a contractor to work on those areas. We have also identified areas that require us to relook into before we hand over the stadium to the county government," he said.

According to PS Mwangi, the running track installed in the first phase of construction is already peeling off, and the standard of the grass on the field has deteriorated further due to poor maintenance.

"We are going to ensure the stadium track, field and other amenities are up to standard. This stadium was handed over to the contractor in 2016. We don’t want to extend further. What remains is finishing so that our youth can use the facility for talent development," the PS added.

He further announced the construction of two sports academies in the county and a 10,000-capacity stadium in collaboration with the county government, to be commissioned soon.

"We are developing sports academies, and through the partnership of the county government we hope to get areas where we can construct those facilities. We intend to have two in Tharaka Nithi in addition to the 10,000-seater capacity stadium which requires 10–15 hectares," the PS noted.

Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, who had accompanied the PS to the site visit, acknowledged that the county was on record as the only county in the country without a stadium, saying his government was ready to offer the required piece of land to allow construction of a stadium at the county headquarters in Kathwana.

"We are determined as a government to give you land in Kathwana that can build a standard stadium like other parts of this country. We are on record for not having a stadium in the 47 counties. We have plenty of land in Kathwana. With the support of the President, we will work to see we have a stadium here," Njuki said.

Governor Njuki assured of his commitment to collaborate with the government to see the construction of Kirubia Stadium completed by April 2026, noting challenges with the track, field and other amenities such as water and electricity would be resolved before the handover.

"If we delay this field further and hit April without it being utilized, that will be justice denied. We gave up this field out of goodwill as a community and we have not seen any results. Kirubia Stadium has been a construction site for the last 10 years, which is a very unfortunate situation," the Governor said.

"Athletes and sports persons who would have discovered their talents here have done so elsewhere. The delay in completion of the stadium means many youth who could have been something through the stadium have become something else," Njuki added.

In February 2023, the then Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports & The Arts Cabinet Secretary CS Ababu Namwamba, during an inspection tour of the stadium, ordered the contractor to return to site to work on repairs before it could be handed over to the government.

According to Namwamba, the stadium was part of the seven stadia vision by the former Jubilee administration to have sports facilities in the country to support the sporting ecosystem and grow grassroots talent. However, the ministry under the new regime had frozen the development of sporting facilities to allow a special audit to be conducted.

The CS insisted that the audit would help determine how the projects were conducted, the amount of money spent, whether value for money had been achieved, and why some projects had stalled or were constructed at substandard levels.

On June 03, 2021, Sports Kenya Deputy Director General Gabriel Komora, during an inspection tour, said the delayed handover and completion of the stadium was due to financial issues.

The construction was started by Governor Muthomi Njuki during his tenure as Member of Parliament for Chuka Igambang'ombe Constituency, with Toddy Civil Engineering and Construction Company as the initial contractor.

High altitude in the county has been praised as a unique advantage to athletes in the country, with the stadium marked as a perfect location for training sports men and women.

The facility played host to the 8th edition of the Kenya Youth Inter-County Sports in April 2023.