New-look Gusii Stadium takes shape, says Mainga
The second phase of upgrading Gusii Stadium is 50 per cent complete, according to Kisii County Minister of Sports Duke Mainga.
‘Echate’ as the minister is fondly known, told People Sports that work at the facility which started in March this year is well on course and is expected to be complete in the next one and half months, but locals feel that the targets may not be realistic.
“We are happy with the work the contractor is doing. Everything is going on well and as we projected, the facelift is expected to be complete by end of May,” said Mainga.
The upgrade of the facility is huge in terms of money injected and areas under renovation and expansion as compared to the first phase done in 2018.
In the first phase that completely gave the stadium a totally new look, the multimillion shilling face-lift of the facility included an underground borehole, a VIP Area with a sitter capacity of 3000 people, two spectators stands to accommodate 1,500 fans each, changing rooms, four washrooms, emergency exits, nursing rooms and a perimeter fence across the field.
In this second phase, once complete, will see the stadium have 12 spectator stands, meaning 10 more spectator stands are being built and according to the stadium manager Evans Mageka, all the ten stands are under construction with only roofing and pavements remaining to be fixed.
The second facelift to be witnessed, includes the expansion of the VIP Area and pavilion as well as more public toilets to accommodate more people.
“It’s a big project co-funded by both the national and county governments and we are, therefore, increasing the number of spectator stands and also expand the main pavilion to accommodate more people. 
We are also increasing the number of public toilets around the stadium,” said the minister.
Revamped stadium
Echate said that the aim of this second phase project is to make Gusii Stadium a sporting facility able to host local and international events.
“We want to have a better and more conducive facility for our sport and fans. We also want to host more international and national events in Kisii,” Echate told PD Sports.
The revamping of the stadium has been praised by sports enthusiasts and stakeholders.
“First of all, it will be a motivation to the team because of the new structure, secondly it will accommodate more people to the stands, thirdly it will attract more teams to the stadium who will want to use the stadium,” said Shabana FC coach Vicent Nyaberi.
Gusii Starlets coach Lai Oyori added, “This second renovation means more attraction of fans and also this will enable Gusii Starlets to have many fans since it is the only lady’s team playing in the FKF second tier.
So we really appreciate the county government for taking good steps and that is one way of promoting football in our county.”
