NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 5 – The National Celebrations Committee on Monday toured Kirinyaga County to conduct the final inspection of the Wang’uru stadium ahead of Mashujaa day celebrations slated for October 20.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, who is also the Chairperson of the committee, said preparations for the national event were on final stages.
“We are putting the final touches on Wang’uru in Kirinyaga in preparation for Mashujaa Day celebrations. With 15 days to go, the National Celebrations Committee is today making the final inspection of the facility with rehearsals also going on,” Kibicho said.
Wang’uru stadium has the capacity to hold 10,000 people but only 3,000 people will be allowed into the stadium in line with the strict coronavirus containment protocols.
On September 25, the government suspended parallel national celebrations in counties to tame the spread of COVID-19.
Interior PS said the fete will only be marked in Kirinyaga County, a departure from the traditional practice where County Commissioners have been leading similar celebrations at the grassroots across the country.
“Kirinyaga County will be the host for this year’s Mashujaa Day. No celebrations will be held in other counties as it has always been the case. We don’t want to escalate the spread of COVID-19, and that is why we are freezing similar activities in other counties,” he said.
The country has continued to witness a rise in COVID-19 cases with the Ministry of Health reporting 77 people cases on Monday from a sample size of 2,415, pushing the confirmed positive cases in the country to 250,191 since its outbreak on March 2020.
The government also extended the nationwide curfew for a month in efforts to suppress the spread of the virus.
The holding of national events out of Nairobi is in line with a government decision in 2015 to hold two of three annual celebrations in counties outside the capital.
Counties which have hosted national celebrations since 2015 are Nakuru, Machakos, Meru, Nyeri, Kakamega, Mombasa, Narok, and Kisii.
