Famous Tononoka football ground  set for a face-lift

Mombasa football fans can now heave a huge sigh of relief after Tononoka Grounds, which was temporary turned into a market two months ago, was cleared of traders and their wares,  as the process of reverting it to a football pitch started in earnest.

A spot check by Nation Sport witnessed bulldozers scrapping off the murram surface that had been laid at the ground to allow for easy movement of trucks delivering fresh produce to the market.

The grounds was normally used by  many youth football players for training and staging matches.

All the market stalls, which had been erected at the facility, had been brought down to be rebuild to Kongowea.

Mombasa County Chief officer of sports Innocent Mugabe supervised the levelling of the ground at Mombasa’s only surviving open playground.

Mugabe revealed plans to give the famous ground a major face-lift to transform it into a modern facility.

“We want to upgrade the facility by improving on the areas that were wanting like the drainage system which was non-existent, levelling of the ground which was hitherto very bumpy and planting grass for a decent football surface”, said Mugabe.

Mugabe said he had arranged for a meeting with the stakeholders to explore employing public participation in deciding whether or not to close the venue for some time to allow for the grass to grow.

“There was a big uproar when we temporarily turned the venue into a market with many even speculating that the Tononoka ground had been grabbed forcing us to really convince the masses otherwise. They are ready to stage demonstration.

“It is because of this that we want them to fully engage the stakeholders in every step of our renovation work so that they are able to give us the way forward on how they want the upgrading work to be done,” said Mugabe.

The Chief Officer said the facility will for the first time have a wire mesh fence to stop residents from creating pathways on the field.

Players from Mombasa have been known for the beautiful football they display since time immemorial, thanks to the numerous playing grounds that could accommodate hundreds of youth eager to try out their talent.

Youth in all the sub counties among them Likoni, Mvita , Kisauni and Changamwe were always busy in the evenings and on weekends playing football, but that is not the case today after several venues were grabbed by private developers.

Only Tononoka remains as the only open public ground in the entire county.

Mbaraki Police ground, Railways Shimanzi grounds, Majaoni ground are some of the open playing venues that have been turned into private use by developers.

Last month, Mombasa County Government had to move in to calm irate football stakeholders who were up in arms over the ground being turned into a temporary market.

Asha Abdi, acting chief officer trade, tourism and investment at the Mombasa county government however later clarified that the facility was being upgraded to make it conducive for the market goers after damages following  rains in the region.

“It is true bulldozers and excavators are on the ground to spread murram and compress so that the lorries accessing the facility to deliver food do not get stuck in the mud but this is a very temporary measure.

“Immediately after we are done with coronavirus, we will scrap off that murram and allow football to continue at the grounds as has been the case”, she said.

According to her, the facility had become a health hazard owing to the heaving rains and had to be fixed to avert another disaster.

But Ali Mwatsahu, speaking for the hundreds of football players in Mombasa, could hear none of that and wants the county government to start planting grass on the ground to make it playable after the rains.

“Tononoka is the only remaining playing ground in Mombasa after Railways Club Shimanzi and Mbaraki Police grounds were all grabbed. Where do they expect our youth to play if all the grounds become inaccessible”, Mwatsahu queried.

But Abdi explained converting the facility into a market was very a temporary measure to decongest Kongowea market during this Covid-19 pandemic period.