Kaptimbor Fc emerged winners of the Baringo County Interfaith peace football tournament after beating Ndambul Fc 1-0 in a terse final played at Marigat Primary School grounds,Baringo South Sub County.
The tournament was sponsored by Inter Religious Council of Kenya, IRCK, held the tournament to harness harmonious existence between communities in the area.
“We have been working with youth in the county for the past four years and we are glad that we have made good progress from the success stories of the youth who received training and capacity building on peace as we have reached out to over 500 youths hence lives impacted,” said Caroline Maina, programme officer at IRCK.
Salim Marjan, a member of the Baringo Interfaith Youth Network and player for Ndambul FC from Marigat Sub-County said they were glad to have participated in the match despite the fact that they did not win noting that peaceful co-existence and the message of peace was far more important than winning the match and would go a long way in boosting development.
“We have a total of ten football clubs across the county and we would like to urge well-wishers together with the County Government to support us because holding these matches can be so expensive. In addition, we have managed to rehabilitate 90 percent of youth who were into drug abuse since they are no longer idle,” Marjan said.
Gladys Cheserem, another youth from Baringo Central Sub-County thanked the organization for the numerous training on peace and environment conservation.
“Through our local churches and mosques, we are disseminating the peace message and economic empowerment message to the youth and encouraging them to do farming and become self-employed. We are glad that through this more youth are now running small businesses hence are self-reliant,” Cheserem said.
Bishop Musa Kamuren from the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) said the training and peace tournaments were beneficial for the change of mindset of youth.
Kaptimbor FC are the reigning Football Kenya Federation County league champions and were recently promoted to the regional league next season.
