Madaraka Day fete moved to Narok after Kajiado failed to fix stadium on time

This year’s Madaraka Day celebrations have been moved to Narok County after the neighbouring Kajiado County failed to fix its stadium in time for the June 1 celebrations.

The National Celebrations Committee led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Monday briefed President Uhuru Kenyatta on the ongoing preparations for Madaraka Day celebrations.

The meeting was attended by among others; Principal Secretaries Karanja Kibicho (Interior and Coordination of National Government), Kirimi Kaberia (Sports and Heritage) Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku and his Narok counterpart Samuel Ole Tunai.

The Matiang’i-led committee briefed the president on the ongoing construction works at the Kajiado stadium and noted it would be impossible for the project to be completed before June.

The president then directed that the celebrations be moved to Narok which is along the same economic block.

The move is aimed at ensuring the benefits arising from the hosting of the national event are retained within the same economic block in line with the established trend of hosting some national events in the Counties.

At the same meeting, President Uhuru directed the Ministry of Sports and Heritage to allocate Ksh. 100 million to the Kajiado stadium to ensure its built to standards that will allow it to host national events in the future.

Earlier in the month, President Uhuru Kenyatta who had just returned from the 20th Heads of State Summit in Arusha via Namanga made a dozen stop overs across Kajiado County.

While meeting the residents along the way, the president announced that the 55th Madaraka day celebrations would be held in Kajiado.