Vihiga County governor Wilber Ottichilo has announced that Hamisi Stadium will be ready for use by next year, a move set to ease stadia problems for teams in the county.Currently, teams in the county host their matches in Kakamega County due to the lack of good playing stadiums in the region. Sports, and particularly football has been on the rise in the county in recent years and there have been calls for the government to build a stadium and renovate other sporting facilities in the county. Construction work is currently ongoing at Hamisi Stadium.On Thursday the governor hosted Vihiga Queens after their CAF Women Champions League sojourn in Egypt where they exited the maiden tourney in the group stage. They won one and lost two of their group stage matches in what was largely a successful show for a team that had not featured in a major tournament before.STARS ABROAD: Avire features as Makkasa suffer another defeatThe governor promised to have the facility ready by next year so that it can be used to nurture young talents in the county.“I am sure we will succeed and complete the stadium because we want it ready next year for use. Our future is in the youth,” he is quoted as saying while hosting Vihiga Queens to a luncheon after the team returned to the country from Egypt where they were participating in the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League.##NAJAVA_MECA_5990958##Ottichilo also promised to increase the allocation for sports in the next financial year and in turn sponsor more teams and develop talents.”With increased allocation, this will enable us to sponsor many teams and develop talents. This, in addition to a fully-fledged national stadium, will help nurture more talents locally,” Ottichilo said.According to the Vihiga County Annual Development Plan for 2022/23, Ksh 8 Million has been allocated to the refurbishment of the facility. In the 2019/2020 Financial Year, Ksh 15 Million was projected to be used in the refurbishment but the actual cost used was Ksh 30,044,855. In 2021/22’s plan, Ksh 100 Million was allocated to refurbish sports facilities in the county.The county government has also applied for a Ksh 200 Million grant from the National Government to top up on their allocation and complete the construction of an ultra-modern Hamisi Stadium.Other than Queens other top teams from the county include Bunyore Starlets, Vihiga Bullets, Vihiga United, Luanda Villa among others.
