Mombasa football stakeholders inspect the Mombasa county stadium on Monday / BRIAN OTIENO
FKF Mombasa county chair Alamin Abdallah at the Mombasa county stadium on Monday / BRIAN OTIENO
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Football stakeholders in Mombasa have welcomed the commitment from the national government to take over the reconstruction of the Mombasa county stadium.

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Led by FKF Mombasa county chair Alamin Abdallah, the stakeholders linked some of the insecurity incidents in Mombasa to the closure of the stadium.

Abdallah said Mombasa was peaceful and the bedrock of football in the country but after the closure of the stadium, in 2015, and the prolonged delay in its re-opening, most footballers lost hope and began going astray.

“Some got into drugs, others got into crime, and most are now six feet under having been lynched by the mob or gunned down by police. We have lost potential footballers because of the closure of this stadium,” the FKF Mombasa chair said.

He said when the stadium was in operation, cases of drug and alcohol abuse and juvenile crime were little or unheard of.

He said youth were not idle as football offered them a safe space to vent their frustrations and the county stadium was available for them.

“In the whole of Kenya, the first stadium to be constructed was the Mombasa stadium,” he said.

However, there is usually debate about this statement as some quarters say the Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega county, built in the 1950s, is older.

However, the Mombasa Stadium is highlighted as the only low-altitude, coastal, international-standard facility in the country. 

The iconic stadium was first closed for renovation in 2013, with planned renovations stalling from time to time.

Following the initial closure, there have been multiple failed attempts to rehabilitate the facility.

In 2015, it was further closed and later neglected.

In 2018, then Mombasa governor announced a Sh1.2 billion project to rebuild the stadium but this also stalled before any meaningful rehabilitation was done.

So far, more than Sh1.7 billion has been gobbled up by the stadium in renovation works whose results are yet to be seen over the years.

On Wednesday, Governor Abdulswamad Nassir hosted Sports PS Elijah Mwangi and his Defence counterpart Patrick Mariru and inspected the stadium, whose renovation stalled at about 35 per cent.

President William Ruto on Friday said his administration has allocated Sh1 billion for the reconstruction of the stadium, whose contractor will be on site in two weeks’ time.

He said the stadium will be ready for operation in December.

On Monday, Abdallah led coaches, referees and former players in hailing both the national and the county government for agreeing to work together on the project.

 “As Mombasa residents, leaders of Mombasa and football players, we are happy with this move. Millions of people have stepped on this stadium and to finally see light at the end of the tunnel is something we are proud of,” Abdallah, a former player, said.

Awadh Barafa, a former football referee, said he has officiated more than 100 matches at the iconic Mombasa stadium.

“I have also refereed many matches across the country. The closure of this stadium hurt us so much because many of our children got lost after that,” Barafa said.

He said many talents have been lost to muguka and drugs following the stadium’s closure.

“After the President on Friday spoke about it, is when we had belief that truly, this stadium will be revived,” the former match official said.

He said they felt neglected whenever stadia were either renovated or constructed across the country.

“We really thank President Ruto and Governor Nassir that we have seen that truly this stadium is being done. But we hope it is completed by December as promised so we can see our children go back to the football pitch from the drug dens,” he said.

He said the bulk of the Harambee Stars players and referees in the past were from Mombasa, but today, only about two or one are usually from Mombasa.

Ali Kubo, a youth leader, said it is heartening to see former players, referees and coaches happy about the potential roaring back of the iconic Mombasa stadium.

“They are happier than the youth because they are the ones who played in this stadium the most and are nostalgic about its renovation,” Kubo said.

He called on the youth to now drop the muguka and the hard drugs and get back to the football pitch.

“We had given up hope of ever seeing this stadium function again. But now we see light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

He said the renovation of the Mombasa stadium, plus the planned construction of the Bububu Stadium in Likoni also by the national government, and that of the Ziwani Stadium in Mvita and Mwahima stadium in Likoni by the county government will ensure football talent is not lost but nurtured.

Already, the county has advertised tenders for the construction of the Ziwani stadium and the reconstruction of the Mwahima stadium.

Khamis Baghazal, a former player and referee, and now a youth football coach, said it is delight to see that the county and the national government have heeded their cry after a long time.

“We were crying every day for this stadium, which is not right. Our children should not see us cry, but they did. And when a grown man cries, it is dangerous for the youth,” Baghazal said.

He said a good deed is always rewarded by another good deed.

He said a playing ground is the most important thing in football.

“In the 17 laws of the game, Law number one is the playing field, not even the football,” Baghazal said.