WAJIR– Three months -long football tournament that is aimed at bringing together and fostering cordial relationship between the security apparatus and members of the public has on Saturday 11th March 2023 came to a close in Wajir county.
The yearly tournament which was sponsored and facilitated by Siyad Hassan (Haji Siyad), a philanthropist and business man had attracted 4 teams from the security department and 8 other teams from the youth across the county.
The final match of the tournament was on Saturday played at Wajir stadium where Wajir Youth Junior Round 4 (JR4) and Police locked horns.
The Wajir Youth Junior Round 4 (JR4) was crowned the champions after defeating their rival Wajir police with one goal.
In a statement carried on his Facebook page, Haji Siyad applauded the teams for showcasing a great deal of sportsmanship throughout the tournament.
“We thank the participating teams for their sense of sportsmanship and the fans for turning up in large numbers to cheer the teams.” said Siyad.
He also thanked the dignitaries who attended the final day of the tournament led by Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs Ismael Maalim Madey and Harambee Stars Head coach Engin Firat.
Addressing journalists after the match, Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs Ismael Maalim Madey said that the Ministry has a cocktail of goodies for the young people including the commercialisation of their talents while also calling for them to bring on board and expose to the world their talents.
PS Youth Affairs Ismail Madey speaking at Wajir Stadium, during the finals beteeen Wajir JR4 and Police. Photo| Courtesy
On his part, Harambee Stars Head Coach Engin Firat lauded the efforts by Siyad in cultivating unity among the youth asserting that such platforms offers the youth to showcase their talents.
Harambee Stars Head Coach Engin Firat lauded the efforts by Siyad in cultivating unity among the youth. Photo | Courtesy
Bari otieno, the FKF CEO said they believe that their are a lot of potentials in Wajir and that they have agreed with Haji Siyad to the importance of harnessing the capacity of the youth in the areas of fortunes and the referees.
Mr. Otieno appealed to the county government to develop infrastructure so that the youth can not only showcase their talents but commercialise and monetize through the talanta hela platform.
“We agreed with Siyad on the need to capacity build and also request that the county government to develop infrastructure so that these talents that are here are given a chance.
FKF CEO Brian Otieno speaking to the media in Wajir town. Photo | ScreenGrab.
The winners were awarded with football kits , a trophy and a sum of 100,000 thousand Ksh while the runners up patted with sh 50,000.
This is not the first time that Siyad Hassan has organized for a such tournament that is geared towards prevention of the radicalisation among the youth and abuse of drug substances but has on many occasions in the yester – years been on the frontline to combatting the indoctrination of the youth with extremism ideas and drug abuse.
Other dignitaries who graced the occasion included; Daniel Ndambuki alias Churcill,Barry Otieno, Stanley Okumbi, Head coach of Kenya Under 20 and Kennedy Odhiambo, the Assistant Coach, Harambee Stars.
