Masaku Sevens is back!
SPORTS
By
John Muia, Erastus Mulwa
| Apr 24, 2023
The Masaku Sevens Rugby Festival is back with a bang after several years of oblivion occasioned by the covid-19 pandemic and the demise of former veteran legendary player, organizer, and crowd-puller Benjamin Ayimba.
Since its launch in 2012, the event has been one of the largest crowd pullers in the region with unprecedented overnight traffic jams experienced on Mombasa road as thousands of fans trooped to Machakos to witness the thrilling game. This year though, traffic to the event is expected to be smooth following the completion of the Nairobi Super Highway and the dual carriage from Nairobi to the Kyumbi junction.
The curtain raiser to the Masaku Sevens event was the Benjamin Ayimba Rugby Legacy Tournament which was held last week in honor of the fallen Kenyan Rugby icon and coach who passed on in 2021 following a severe bout of cerebral Malaria.
Speaking at the launch of the preparations for the event which will be held on June 10th to 11th, Stanley Mumo, who is the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, said they are expecting teams from the United Kingdom (UK), Uganda as well as the top local teams such as Kenya Harlequins and Kabras to feature in this year's festival.
"This is also a commercial festival as transactions worth millions of shillings are done during the event, " Mr. Mumo said.
He said this year's event will be held at the Machakos Golf Club unlike in the past where it was hosted at the Kenyatta Stadium.
"This year the event will go back to its roots where it all began in 2012 at the Machakos Golf Club grounds and we encourage partners to join us to take rugby back to its splendor - For the love of the game," he said.
County Sports Executive, Onesmus Muasya said the County government will provide the necessary logistical support towards the success of the event including mapping out entry routes to Machakos Town for efficient management of traffic.
Previous Masaku Sevens Rugby events have led to accommodation challenges with hotels reporting full bookings but this is not expected this year as several new hotels have since been established thus increasing the accommodation capacity of Machakos Town.