Wamuchomba Rejects Man United & Arsenal Nairobi Friendly Plan and Tells Govt to Pay Tea Debt

Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba has dismissed the announcement that Manchester United and Arsenal will play a friendly in Nairobi next year. She insists the government should prioritise outstanding tea factory debts instead.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen stated on Sunday that President William Ruto would arrange for the two Premier League clubs to play in Nairobi around June or July 2027. The fixture is part of efforts to position Kenya as a destination for major international sporting events.

It follows the planned Bayern Munich versus Ajax match that will open the Raila Odinga International Stadium in January 2027.

Wamuchomba responded sharply and declared that Manchester is not a priority. She urged the government to first settle the debts owed to tea factories. She said the factories are collapsing under a cumulative burden of more than Sh34 billion.

Some of these arrears stem from unpaid government fertiliser subsidies. The MP says this has left many factories in deficit and farmers receiving low returns.

She has repeatedly highlighted the struggles of the tea sector. Many factories have borrowed heavily to pay farmers’ bonuses since 2022 and continue to face financial strain.

Her latest remarks place the proposed football matches against the backdrop of unresolved agricultural challenges affecting livelihoods in tea-growing regions. While the government promotes international sporting spectacles as markers of national progress she maintains that stabilising the tea industry should come first.

The exchange shows the tension between prestige projects and pressing economic issues in the agricultural sector. The sector remains a key source of rural employment and export earnings.

Neither Manchester United nor Arsenal has publicly confirmed any arrangement.

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