Busia County Executive Committee member in charge of sports and culture Mr Paul Ikwenye has questioned the decision by the government to take the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) games in Mombasa, Nairobi, and Eldoret.
He has criticized the government’s move to leave out other areas that arguably have been the origin of most Kenyan footballers like Nyanza and Western regions.
According to Ikwenye, most footballers in Kenya come from Nyanza and Western regions and it could have been fair enough for one or two matches to be brought to the region.
“As people of Western and Nyanza regions, we are not happy with what is happening as far as Afcon matches are concerned. Stadiums to host these matches are going to be constructed in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Eldoret, which means we are not going to have any match that will be played in Western or Nyanza,”
Paul Ikwenye, Busia County Executive Council Member for sports and Culture.
He argued that Western and Nyanza produce the best soccer players, the regions could have been considered when it comes to soccer games.
Addressing people during the fundraising to support Mayenje Santos Football Club in Busia to play in division two games, Mr Ikwenye noted that as people of Western, they expected that one football AFCON match would be played at the famous Bukhungu stadium in Kakamega.
“Western community thought that one match would be played at Bukhungu stadium and another match to be played in Kisumu so that our stadium in Busia could be used as a training ground for some of the teams. That would have contributed something to our economy as a region,”
Paul Ikwenye, Busia County Executive Member for Sports and Culture.
He appealed to President William Ruto to consider Western region and Kisumu for at least one Afcon match.
Mayenje Santos football club Secretary General Joseph Onyango who was present during the fundraising promised the fans that despite the challenges they face as a team they are well prepared to play in the National Super League the next season.
“We have been progressing well from division one and we are playing in division two and we know that we will emerge winners to play in the National Super League next season,”
Paul Ikwenye
According to one of the team’s fans Bonfance Oundo, the team had qualified to play in the National Super League in the last season after winning all their matches but it was lowered back to division two in unclear circumstances, they promised to go back and play in Nation premier league.
“The team played from division one and then two, we qualified to play in NPL but the decision has arrived that we remain in division two, we accepted and we will start from there as we climb up,” said Oundo
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