YURO

Talanta Stadium was budgeted at KSh 35 billion, but we ended up paying KSh 45.85 billion. That is an additional KSh 10.85 billion that was likely pocketed by Ruto and his friends. A similar 60,000-seater stadium in Ivory Coast the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpé, which hosted the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations cost only KSh 33 billion. Last month, Harambee Stars players went on strike over unpaid allowances of approximately KSh 80,000 per player. Yet Mr Ruto is ready to pay Bayern Munich and Ajax between KSh 250–300 million each in appearance fees just to come and officially open Talanta Stadium. That figure does not even include air travel, accommodation, security, and other related expenses. Ruto wants to pay foreign teams to play at our stadium while inviting our own football stars and aspiring players to sit as spectators. There is zero value for Kenya in bringing wazungu teams to open our stadium. If they want to play here, they should sponsor themselves not at the expense of a country that cannot pay its teachers and doctors. If we must invite foreign teams, then in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, why not invite the Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal, or our neighbours from the East African Community? We should ask their governments to honour us by sending and covering the cost of their national teams to come play at the opening of an expensive stadium that was never even a priority. Better still, why not organise a week-long football tournament for young footballers from every county, with prize money of KSh 5 million or more? Talanta Stadium is ours. We will not allow our taxes to pay for foreign teams. I have instructed my lawyer to file a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to obtain the full cost of this proposed exhibition match. I refuse the wastage of taxpayers’ money, and I shall move to court if Ruto does not stop this hallucination. We must invest in our own footballers. Talanta Stadium official opening match should be an opportunity for Kenyan players to shine not a stage to entertain Ruto’s fantasies of hosting Bayern Munich and Ajax Amsterdam. Football fans worldwide should also know this: since William Ruto took office in September 2022 through September 2026, police officers have killed 3,958 Kenyans. That averages nearly three Kenyans killed every day by the brutal police force working under Ruto’s regime. These two teams should decline any invitation to do public relations for a government that kills its own citizens simply for demanding better governance. Tumekataa.