Muthurwa slum dwellers to take back their grabbed community social hall from a local bank on Wednesday 20th August 11.00 o¢clock, 2008!

You are invited to join us in a boxing tournament and public awareness forum, to dramatize residents’ frustration with a local listed bank’s plans to turn their community social hall into a bank facility on Wednesday 20th August, 2008 at 11am, by Bunge la Mwananchi and Dallas Boxing Club in Muthurwa slums next to Muthurwa Market.

Celebrated boxers all of whom began their careers, trained and grew to fame in pugilism at Muthurwa Social Hall include;
– Mr. Stephen Musyoka, the first African world champion amateur,
– Mr. Bilal Snr, a silver medalist in 1984
– Mr. Robert Wangila, the first African Gold medalist in 1988
– Mr. Bilal Suleiman Jnr, a Gold medalist in the All African Games
and who is also representing Kenya in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In attendance at the boxing tournament and public awareness forum will be Event organizer Boxing Coach Mukula Musyoka, and Kenya¢s boxing big names like Mr. Martin Oduor, 2006 Gold medalist junior category, Mr. Daniel Shisia and Mr David Munyasia winners of the Africa Military Boxing championship all of whom trained and grew to fame in pugilism at that social hall.

The social hall, says Coach Mukula, has produced national heroes and earned Kenya over 21 Gold medals serving the youth as a “symbol of hope” in their struggles “to escape joblessness, ugly living conditions and poverty. The social hall has also served the residents as a facility for weddings, funerals, meetings and sports hall for the
youth since the 1960’s.

Patrick Kamotho, a community based civil rights activist, explained that “young people who have for the longest time used the social hall in the hope of perhaps becoming the next Robert Wangila have had their dreams brought to an abrupt end as they were unceremoniously kicked out!”. Initially the excuse given by the local government on the taking over of the hall was that it was to be temporarily used as a store during the construction of Muthurwa hawkers market. However, the area Councillor has since confirmed that the social hall is earmarked for a banking hall by a local bank that is neither listening nor caring though it claims to be a Mwananchi bank. The hall is being taken over by the bank despite repeated assurances from then Local Government Minister, Mr. Musikari Kombo and later President Mwai Kibaki at the official launch of the Muthurwa market, that the social hall would remain a community amenity.

We invite the public and the media fraternity to join Muthurwa slum dwellers in their fight to reclaim their citadel of hope!

Notes for Editor:
Bunge la Mwananchi is a social movement with a vision of Kenya where citizens organize to free themselves from all forms of oppression; are aware of their socio-economic and political responsibilities and have accessible opportunities to realize their full potential. We create network platforms for grass root Kenyans to participate in democratic expression on pertinent issues affecting their lives with the aim of synergizing their efforts to amplify their voice in the national agenda.

Contacts
George Nyongesa,
Bunge la Mwananchi
www.bulamwa.co.ke
+254 720 451 235

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Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:30:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: George Nyongesa
Subject: BUNGE LA MWANANCHI PRESS RELEASE – 19th August, 2008