A couple of weeks ago, Kenya witnessed a rare moment of unity as the national team, Harambee Stars mauled Ethiopia’s national team 3:0 at the Kasarani Stadium.
Unlike other sporting events like the marathons that happen in Europe, this particular event had a bigger national appeal happening on home soil.
Many believe the win was largely motivated by Deputy President William Ruto’s Sh50 million token of appreciation to the team.
Kenyans were all united in national pride and no words can explain the emotions and feelings of nationhood precipitated by the result.
However, millions of Kenyans missed these memorable moments because the historic match was given a wide berth in terms of coverage by the national broadcaster, KBC.
This was a great disservice and sabotage to our nationhood! The state broadcaster which has more than once been bailed out of financial crisis by the taxpayers’ money let down Kenyans who wanted to watch one of the highly spirited Kenyan games in their own country at the comfort of their screens in their houses.
Kenyan football enthusiasts who could not make it to Kasarani Stadium were forced to seek the services of Pay TV channels that aired the match. This was further sabotage of our nationhood because nothing unites a people more than sports.
We cannot all fit into the 60,000 seats at the Kasarani Stadium to cheer our national team but, Kenyans should never be compelled to visit social places or video halls to watch our very own sportsmen proudly lift our flag; the symbol of our nationhood, at a cost.
We must cheer for our sportsmen and women from the comfort of our living rooms without any inhibitions.
However, even as the Harambee Stars receive their Sh50 million as promised by the government, it is time we rethink about earlier deals that we have entered to as a government with foreign entities offering pay TV services.
Mwangi X Muthiora is a political commentator, a blogger and a poet