North Rift residents embrace peace through football

Kapenguria

Monday December 18, 2023

KNA by Richard Muhambe

Thousands of residents from the four counties of West Pokot, Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo braced the scotching sun to watch football match finals at Makutano Stadium in Kapenguria, geared towards enhancing peace among the neighbouring counties.

The tournament dubbed North Rift OKM Peace Tournament is an initiative by the Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen under his OKM Foundation that attracted a huge crowd never witnessed in West Pokot County before, as people from various walks of life suspended their usual Sunday activities to witness the tantalizing men and women soccer matches that came to an end.

West Pokot teams dominated the final matches against their worthy rivals Elgeyo Marakwet in both the men and women categories.

Pokot FC earned their slim win of 6-5 against Iten United through a penalty shootout after a barren draw that kept spectators anxious for the 90 minutes of the play.

Iten Starlets on the other hand lost to Mtelo Queens from West Pokot 3-4 also through a penalty shootout, despite keeping them half field in the better part of the game.

The two tantalizing matches all ended in barren draws with spectators making allusions that it was a clear message to the so much expected peace in the two counties that have always been at loggerheads at the border.

The winners bagged Sh1million each with the second, third and fourth taking home Sh750,000, Sh500,000 and 350,000 cash each respectively with Ptikit FC (Baringo) and Turkwel FC (Turkana) being the second and third runners up in the men’s category.

In the ladies category, Lodwar Township (Turkana) and Rising Starlets (Baringo) took home Sh500,000 and Sh350,000 each respectively.

CS Murkomen termed the tournament a great success in building peace among the four counties in North Rift region and called on leaders in the region to rally their people to embrace peace to unlock the huge untapped potential in the area.

“There is no development without peace and vice versa. The government is committed to construct various security roads within the region, but we should be the first peace ambassadors in our dealings,” he reiterated.

Murkomen said his foundation will sponsor 10 children from each of the border counties within Kerio Valley to pursue their education and they will be recruited as peace ambassadors.

He underscored the value of sports in bridging peace saying the tournament which started at the ward levels had contributed immensely in bringing the conflicting communities together.

Sports CS Ababu Namwamba and his Health counterpart Susan Nakhumicha hailed Murkomen for the initiative noting that such a gesture will promote peace in conflict areas.

“Mandela extolled the power of sports in bridging disunity in society. We are proud of CS Murkomen for his love of sports,” said Namwamba.

He termed the OKM Super Cup as a two-edged since it enhanced peace, at the same time, developing talents among youth.

“I know every corner of this country has something to offer in terms of talents. As we speak, we already have 13 players from West Pokot at the Kenya Academy of Sports which means, if we have a talent opportunity, every region will bring something to the national table,” posed the Sports CS.

Nakhumicha said the next edition of the tournament will be graced with a free medical camp so that residents can know their health status as they enjoy the games adding that from the football skills displayed, North Rift region has the potential to become the home of champions in all sporting activities.

The tournament attracted all governors from the four counties with others from Bomet and Nandi joining them with messages of peace that were delivered during every halftime.

United Democratic Alliance Party Secretary General Cleophas Malala also joined the leaders in preaching peace by giving a free ticket to all the four teams to participate in his Malala Super Cup scheduled for December 26 to 30,2023 at Mumias Complex in Kakamega County.

West Pokot Governor Simon Kachapin appealed to the national government to consider allocating funds for the upgrading and completion of Makutano Stadium.

“Mr CS, you can see how the stadium is heavily packed with fans standing for all those hours enjoying the matches. We need to have better standards because the stadium cannot hold 200 people,” requested Kachapin who was lauded as being at the forefront in championing for peace in the region.

Courtesy; KNA