Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Sports, Heritage and Culture Amina Mohamed, on June 24, came under heavy Twitter storm from infuriated Kenyans after she announced the commencement of building works of a new stadium in Kisumu that has been christened as the Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium.
The abandoned Mamboleo Showground is set to get a major face-lift after the national government broke grounds ahead of construction of the modern stadium at a cost of Sh350 million.
The Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium will be built at the ASK Showground in Mamboleo, and will feature among other disciplines football, rugby, tennis, hockey pitches among others.
The CS was accompanied by Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o during the groundbreaking ceremony, going on to share mock-up photos of the new stadium on her official twitter page.
"Joined Anyang Nyong'o to officiate the Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium groundbreaking ceremony in Kisumu. The stadium will spur massive economic growth in and around the Lake Region Economic Bloc," she tweeted.
However, the name of the new multi-million stadium seemed to rub a majority of Kenyans the wrong way, with hundreds flooding her social media pages to question the decision to name the stadium after Kenya's first President.
"Waziri this is a great start, even though the proposed name is a bit offensive; we have far too many public utilities named after one person. Sometimes I wonder why the narrative on his legendary status has to be shoved down our throats. Every road, park, hospital, and school yawa!" one user replied.
"I am not petty. Let me suggest some names. Gama Pinto. Luanda Magere, Tom Mboya, Amoth Owira, Lakeside, Winam, Onagi, Lake Region, Jokanyanam, Kisumo, Liberation, Allan Thigo, Peter Dawo, Kipchoge, Olunga, Wanyama, Oliech, Mbuta. Think wildly, our heritage runs deep," another Kenyan opined.
“This is the least we can do for these heroes. We have a directive that the project is done very quickly within six months,” CS Amina stated while reaffirming the renaming of the Jomo Kenyatta Sports ground located in the Kisumu Central Business District to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Recreational Park.
Mamboleo Show Grounds previously played host to the Agricultural Show of Kenya exhibitions, with Kisumu Rugby Football Club also using it for their home matches.
Once complete, the new Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium will accommodate 30,000 people.
Governor Nyong'o, in his statement, made it clear that investing in sports infrastructure would go a long way in offering the county residents an opportunity to hone their skills and earn a living from sports, thereby leading to overall economic prosperity.
"As we invest in programs that encourage the youth to develop their sporting talents as a means to economic advancement, we must put commensurate investments in sporting infrastructure. This stadium will go a long way in responding to the inadequacy of such facilities in the county,” he remarked.
