Former Sports minister and former Mogotio Member of Parliament Hellen Sambili is glad that during her time as the Sport’s boss she cancelled a deal which would have seen the Nyayo Stadium renamed Coca-Cola Stadium in 2009.
She was at the helm of the Sports ministry when the global beverage company proposed to buy naming rights from the Sports Stadia Management Board (SSMB).
She cancelled the deal after the then SSMB chair Joe Aketch had already signed an agreement with Coca-Cola.
During the funeral service of the Late President Moi at the same stadium, Sambili was still happy with the decision she made 10 years ago.
“I’m glad I was there to stop the deal. I understood then that it bore a huge commercial value to SSMB and the revenue would have helped in various ways but facilities like Nyayo Stadium have more than commercial value attached to them.
It carries significant heritage value to the people of Kenya and with hindsight, a lot of people now agree with me that I did the right thing,’’ Sambili told People Sports on Tuesday, February 11.
Nyayo Stadium was closed for renovations in 2017 but underfunding left it desolate until Moi’s funeral service took a detour from Kasarani to Nyayo.
The 25 percent incomplete work was hastened with President Uhuru Kenyatta making personal supervision to ensure work was finished in time for the funeral service.
