Fort Jesus plays host to the annual Soya awards gala night

Preparation for Soya awards at Fort Jesus Museum in Mombasa. 11th January 2019. Photo Omondi Onyango/Standard

Top stars are in Mombasa for the gala night awards

All eyes are on the beautiful, historic and unique Fort Jesus Museum as it hosts the 15th edition of the Soya awards tonight.

Top and world class stars who started arriving in Mombasa on Wednesday mingled freely during last night’s event that brought together who is who in the world of sports.

Flags of the companies sponsoring Soya awards at Fort Jesus Museum in Mombasa. 11th January 2019. Photo Omondi Onyango/Standard

 The world acclaimed Fort Jesus Museum is one of the country’s oldest museum and previously been hosting prestigious events especially those related to tourism.

It was the first time Soya awards were taking place outside its traditional venue- Nairobi County since its inception 14 years ago.

Preparation for Soya awards at Fort Jesus Museum in Mombasa. 11th January 2019. Photo Omondi Onyango/Standard

In the recent years, Fort Jesus Museum has been witnessing several expansions that had been done on it to restore it back to its original design and improve it.

Mombasa County Executive in charge of Sports Munyoki Kyalo was excited as they played host to the annual event.

“Mombasa has been waiting for several months to host the event and we thank Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho for his commitment to see the event took place in at the coastal city,” said Kyalo.

Built by the Portuguese in 1593-1596 to the designs of Giovanni Battista Cairati to protect the port of Mombasa, Fort Jesus is one of the most outstanding and well preserved examples of 16th Portuguese military fortification and a landmark in the history of this type of construction.

Preparation for Soya awards at Fort Jesus Museum in Mombasa 11th January 2019. Photo Omondi Onyango/Standard

Fort Jesus is Mombasa’s most popular tourist attraction and is located along the coastline near the Old Town.

Glance box

1)      Fort Jesus is a monumental piece of architecture that was built in the 16th century by the Portuguese.

2)     The fort has a museum that displays various artifacts from the era where Mombasa served as a transit point for the slave trade and commodities, and which enjoyed regular visits by seafarers and the like.

3)     On the October 24, 1958, Fort Jesus was declared a National Park in the custody of the Trustees of the Kenya National Parks.

4)     Excavation was carried out and the Fort became a Museum in 1962. The Fort is now an important historical landmark in the East African region.

5)     The Fort's layout and form reflected the Renaissance ideal that perfect proportions and geometric harmony are to be found in the human body.

6)      The property covers an area of 2.36 hectares and includes the fort's moat and immediate surroundings.

SAFARICOM SOYA AWARDS CATEGORIES

1.      Overall sports personality of the year award

2.      Sportsman of the year

3.      Sportswoman of the year

4.      Sports team of the year Men

5.      Sports team of the year Women

6.      Federation of the year

7.      Coach of the year

8.      Community hero/heroine of the year

9.      Hall of fame of the year

10.  Sportsman living with a disability

11.  Sportswoman living with a disability

12.  Most promising personality of the year girl

13.  Most promising personality of the year boy

14.  School team of the year boys

15.  School team of the year girls

16.  School coach of the year

17.  Outstanding player of the year boy

18.  Outstanding player of the year girl.