B. OsanoEA Pamoja Watch: Snubbed Western Kenya region up in arms
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Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 01.10.23. | 17:49
Tow governors feel that Kisumu and Kakamega were unfairly overlooked
Barely a week after the Confederation of African Football (CAF), awarded the hosting rights for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to a joint bid by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania (EA Pamoja), the move has taken a political twist in Kenya.
The choice of Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret Town as one of the host venues for the games did not sit well with two governors from the Western Kenya region, a perceived bedrock of Kenyan football.
It goes without saying that the region produces the majority of footballers in the country, either by birth or roots, and it is one of the areas where the game enjoys a lot of fan support.
Eldoret town, located in the Rift Valley, on the other hand, is famed globally as the home of champions, as it produces or nurtures some of the finest and best middle- and long-distance athletes the world has ever known.
Yet, the town, which falls under Uasin Gishu County, one of the 47 devolved governance units of Kenya, and where President William Ruto hails from, is not known for football, at least in recent memory.
Not a single one of the 18 Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) clubs, comes from the town, and it has been so for ages since the demise of KCC FC and Rivatex FC in the early 2000s.
In a joint press statement by Kisumu County Governor Prof. Peter Anyang' Nyong'o and his Kakamega County counterpart H.E FCPA Fernandes Baraza, "Western Kenya should have been included with either matches being held in Kisumu or Kakamega,"
"This, in our view, is a tragic decision," adds the presser released on Sunday, October 1, 2023.
Kasarani and Nyayo stadiums, all in capital Nairobi, are the other venues earmarked for the matches in Kenya.
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Compared to Kenya, the rest of the EA Pamoja members; Uganda and Tanzania, have spread their venues across three cities/towns each.
"The success of the matches will be on the turn up at the stadiums where the matches will be held.
Eldoret has athletes and Athletics fans in millions. But not soccer. And that is the naked truth. This means that the AFCON matches will be played in empty stadia with little impact," the statement further reads.
The two governors read politics in the decision to snub the Western Kenya from the EA Pamoja matrix.
Politically, the region has served as the seat of opposition politics since independence.
In the last elections, which Ruto won, majority voters, especially from the two counties, voted for opposition candidate Raila Odinga.
"The decision by the UDA (United Democratic Alliance) government may be denying the Western region the opportunity to host the games because we are not shareholders in the Kenya Kwanza Company Limited.
That would be extremely myopic as the President was representing the Republic of Kenya when he teamed with our colleagues in the East African Community," the two governors said.
They are optimistic that there is still enough time for their region to be made part of the EA Pamoja.
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