Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has made clear his intentions to reclaim all public playgrounds in NairobiSpeaking during the official launch of the 43rd edition of the annual Koth Biro tournament at Umeme grounds, Ziwani, Raila said it is important to ensure the grounds built during the colonial era are repossessed while at the same time promising to renovate them.”Every estate had a public ground built by the colonial government. There were public grounds in Kaloleni, Bahati, Shauri Moyo, and Makongeni among others but they have been grabbed. We want to see if these playing grounds will be gotten back. We will renovate them very well,” the ODM leader said.Odinga further highlighted the importance of sports in the country, adding that there is need to improve the state of football in the country, including improving the state of the playing grounds.“Matters on sports are very important in our country. Football is the most followed sport in the world and it makes millionaires. we want to improve the state of football in the country. This ground has produced many stars who went on to play for big clubs and the national team Harambee Stars. They include the late James Siang’a who played for Gor Mahia, Luo Union and the Harambee Stars. There was also Charles Ochieng’ who was arguably the best striker Kenya has ever produced. I also played here when I was young,” he added.A total of 46 teams divided into four zones are taking part in the tournament where four top teams will be awarded prize money, with the winners taking home Sh300,00, runners-up (Sh100,000), third-placed team (Sh50,000), and Sh20,000 for the team finishing fourth.“We thank Baba for coming on board to sponsor grassroots football. This shows his love for football,” tournament official Issa Musa was quoted by Daily Nation.
