The Shambles That Is The “Mashemeji” Derby

For a match that is termed as one of East Africa’s biggest Derbys, widely watched and whose atmosphere is highly charged, the organisers always turn out to be such a disappointment, not on one occasion, but repeatedly. In Fact the chaos and disorganisation that come with the ticket purchases is one of the constants of these matches that you can take to the bank. 

Which is sad really, because The Kenyan Mashemeji Derby is a highly anticipated and fiercely competitive soccer match between two of the biggest clubs in Kenya: Gor Mahia FC and AFC Leopards. The match is marked by intense rivalries between the fans of both clubs, leading to an immense passionate atmosphere in the stadium. Like I have stated already, It is considered one of the biggest derbies in African soccer and is watched across the country and beyond.

The day is 29th of January 2023, the atmosphere is great for a good game. The days preceding the game gave ardent fans like myself nostalgia of the good old days. The marketing and hype online and within the fans branches was well done. Even Victor Wanyama did a video calling on all good supporters of both teams to come out in large numbers and make their way to the stadium. The only downside, was the same day, Raila, son of Jaramogi alias Baba, was having a rally at Jacaranda grounds. I am saying downside because we know 92% of his supporters come from the same communities which the fans of the two clubs come from. This was thought would lead to a low turnout but it was not the case.

It was a promising fixture because coming into the derby, AFC’s matches against Mathare United, Bandari and Kenya Police, which the team won 2-1, 2-0 and 1-0, respectively and Gor Mahia won matches against Talanta,Vihiga bullets 3-0,3-1 and drew with Sofapaka 0-0.That was a hallmark to a very entertaining match.

Anyway, the day arrives (fikas), I leave home at 2pm hoping to arrive and be seated by 2.40 pm as usual with the previous Derbies. Now getting into Nyayo stadium was a challenge with traffic stretching back from the madaraka roundabout. Fair enough, I guess many people are driving for the game. I manage to get inside the stadium by at least 2.50pm and now that is where the drama starts. Despite there being enough parking, the organization of the parking is left to GSU officers and a few deliberately aloof stewards who are more interested in getting something “small” instead of organizing the parking for the benefit of the fans. Now the cars are parked anywhere and anyhow blocking other cars from coming into the stadium. With time not on the fans side some fans are forced to leave their cars by the entrance and others outside the stadium at Carrefour parking opposite the stadium, at the total petrol station at madaraka and some as far as the Nairobi west Hospital parking. Crazy right, despite there being enough parking slots inside the stadium. I manage to also Double Park my car somewhere near the entrance of the VIP section as that is the only spot I could get because I refused to toa kitu kidogo for the rude and fat steward who deliberately decided to block my way with a steel barrier. I rush very fast to try and buy tickets for myself and some friends who were trying to get parking somewhere in Nairobi west.

Shock on me!!!!!!, I find a huge crowd trying to buy its tickets at the parking bay directly opposite Nairobi west. I am told blatantly its ‘’cash only’’ no mpesa,no digital money payments. Having had a ten year history with the famous mashemeji derby I had remembered to leave my wallet at home but had forgotten to take the money out of it.So I only had my phone with me which means the only form of currency I had was Mpesa. I literally went round the stadium looking for an mpesa outlet to withdraw cash after the friends I was to watch the game with confirmed suffering from the same mental disorder. Luckily Kenyans have not lost their humanity in totality and I found someone who was willing to give me cash if only I send him money on mpesa with a slight 150 shillings on top ya kutoa na for his struggles of parting with his physical, assumedly hard earned money. I was good to go. But by now the match had already started. I rushed to get tickets only to be told that tickets zimeisha.On the vehicle near the pool side they only had VIP tickets and had not withdrawn enough for the same. It seemed to me that this was not meant to be as the tickets seemed to be living in the shadows like a silhouette. Then all of a sudden some guy appeared from nowhere with tickets. After punching a few people, stepping on a few toes, smelling people’s sweat I got my tickets.

Now only two gates were open, clearly not enough as people were struggling to get in. Being more than twenty minutes into the game. I managed to get in.The stadium was packed and the Ingwe fans were dancing to live tunes from the gada crew.

The game was closely contested, but Leopards squandered many chances which could have nailed the match in their favour especially during the last minutes. The coach Patrick Aussems is doing very well with the young players and I dare say this is the best team we have had over the last three seasons. The leopard lives to fight another day and Gormahia unbeaten run against Ingwe continues.

Viva Viva.

Ndalu Barasa is an avid football fan that occasionally writes about the tribulations most of the local Kenyan football fans undergo.