Amutala stadium not fit to even host a village match

Amutala Stadium in Kimilili Constituency, Bungoma is named after the famous Bukusu paramount chief by the name, but that is as far as its fame goes.

The facility occupies 14 hectares of land and has no perimeter wall.

One is welcomed to the stadium by grazing cows.

One corner is fit for lovebirds, who take their sweet time exchanging little nothings there, as they perhaps seek to hide from  curious eyes in Kimilili town. 

On the day these writers visited the stadium a troupe of  security guards were going through some marching drills on the pitch.

If one had thought of coming here for a kick-about, there was neither ball nor players in sight.

The stadium has a football pitch, basketball court, rugby pitch, volleyball court and hockey field.

Residents said that the poor state of the facility is a major impediment to sports development in the area. 

Amutala Stadium has no changing rooms, toilets and terraces.

Local football teams like Kimilili Superstars and Ndivisi United football clubs, for lack of alternative venues, are forced to use the poor facility to play matches. 

And the county government  is seemingly least bothered with improving the sport arena.
In fact, the stadium has mainly been used to host political rallies.

During the 2017 general elections campaigns a huge crowd turned up at the stadium to welcome president Uhuru Kenyatta.

Rallies by other political players also drew huge crowds, tampering and flattening the field, leaving it unfit for play.

"We have a lot of untapped talent from this area that could benefit from this facility if only our leaders could care a little for it," said local resident Ken Kinuthia.

“The stadium is in a state of disrepair and some sections are always flooded when it rains making it hard to use the pitch,” he added.

Kimilili town assistant chief Abdul Hamid said that the stadium has been neglected by the county bosses despite it serving many athletes.

The chief said  that he intended to liaise with Kimilili sub county administration to get few boys in the Kazi Mashinani programme to clear the bush in the stadium.

"We recently saw some of the youths who play basketball coming together to make the court after raising funds from  amongst themselves. That should not be the case because it's a government facility," he said.

Abdul said that various state functions like Mashujaa Day, Madaraka Day and Labour Day were usually held in the stadium.

"However, this stadium does not have a functional dais and we usually have to pitch tents when we have such functions," he said.

He urged the area MP Didmus Barasa to set aside cash from CDF and help revamp the stadium.

Jeff Mwangi the captain of Kimilili basketball team that trains in the stadium said they decided to make the court themselves after their numerous appeals to the county ministry of sports to assist them fell on deaf ears.

"We contributed  money as friends and players and bought the rims, boards to start as off," he said.

He said that they are now in the process of raising funds to improve the court surface
Mwangi said that they were hugely disappointed after the county failed to help with logistics when defunct SportPesa offered to sponsor building and branding the court last year.

Mwangi said many youths from Kimilili, who are at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, had been training in the stadium in shifts.

"We have about three hundred people who came here from 7am, another shift from 10am, another from 2pm and the final shift from 4pm to train," he said.

Kimilili borders Mt Elgon, a region that has produced world beaters in athletics despite lack of sports facilities.

Chief Amatula may wonder why such a sorry facility was named after him.

Colonial era

The Northern Bukusu land was ruled by Musa Amutala and the south by Sudi Namachanja during the colonial era.

Sudi was the father of the late Kenyan ambassador to Brazil, Pius Namachanja and the late head of the Catholic Church in Kenya, Maurice Cardinal Otunga.

Nzoia Sugar’s Sudi Stadium in Bukembe, Kanduyi Constituency, was also named after the chief.

Amutala donated the land for the Amutala Stadium in the 1930s that was mainly used then for sports and other cultural activities. He also donated land for the Kimilili Primary School and Kimilili mosque.

Amutala’s region stretched from Webuye to Kimilili to Tongaren to Bokoli while Sudi’s domain was Bumula, Kanduyi to Sirisia areas in Western.