States Sets Aside KSh1.5 billion For Nairobi 2020 WU20 Preparations

NAIROBI, Kenya- The Government has set a side KSh1.5 billion to kick-off preparations for the Nairobi 2020 IAAF World Under 20 Championships (WU20) to be hosted at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

The country was granted hosting rights for the global athletics showpiece, slated for July 7 to 12, 2020, during an IAAF Council meeting held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday with the State expected to release more funds in the next fiscal year to finance the event.

“The money will be used to fund logistics for the event, we intend to make this competition better than the IAAF WU18 Championships staged here last year,” underlined Cabinet Secretary for Sports and Heritage Rashid Echesa.

“The Committee to spear head this preparation will be unveiled in August. The board’s immediate task will be to hit the ground running,” underscored Echesa who was speaking in Nairobi on Friday.

The Minister urged Athletics Kenya (AK) and sports stakeholders to work hand in hand with the State to ensure the country retains its top spot in the IAAF WU20 standings.

Kenya topped the medal charts at the recently concluded Tampere 2018 WU20 Championships in Finland with six gold, four silver and a bronze to finish above athletics giants, Jamaica (four, five, three) and United States (three, eight, seven), the fourth time the country has won the overall title in the history of the event first ran in 1986.

“Nairobi County Government and Kenya Tourism Board will work together to market Kenya to the outside world ahead of WU20 Championships,” Echesa highlighted.

Echesa assured top security for countries that will to take part in the competition. He said Ministry of   Interior and Coordination of National Government will ensure their stay in Nairobi is very safe.

He added that hosting WU20 challenge will inspire Kenya to bid for the Senior IAAF World Championships in the near future.

Sports Permanent Secretary, Amb. Peter Kaberia, has urged the Treasury to release money allocated toward renovation of Nyayo National Stadium so that work at the sports arena can proceed on smoothly.

First quarter

"Apart from Kasarani stadium, Nyayo and Kenyatta University are other venues that will be utilized during the WU20 competition.

“Treasury should release this money in the first quarter of the new financial year because we want Nyayo to be completed in time for this purpose,” Kaberia emphasized.

Kaberia said they are expecting a large number of visitors during the WU20 contest as countries that shunned Kenya during the WU18 event last year are already responding positively for the forthcoming championships.

Nairobi County government representative, Mwangi Njihia, assured that   they will work hand in hand with all stakeholders to make WU20 a success.

Echesa and Kaberia alonsgide AK President, Lt. Gen (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei were in the Kenyan delegation that travelled to the IAAF headquarters in Monaco to present Kenya's bid for the global age track and field showpiece open to competitors aged 19 and 20.

Nairobi 2020 WU20 will be the third IAAF event for Kenya to organise following the Mombasa World Cross and Nairobi 2017 World U18.

The WU18 that were hailed as the best ever in the history of the now defunct biannual competition cost the country KSh4b.