Chemelil Sugar Company 2025 is mulling over reviving the legendary Chemelil Sugar Football Club as part of its revitalization plans, Deputy General Manager Michael Wanjala has said.
Outlining the progress made one year after Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries took over the management of the state-owned sugar miller in a historical leasing deal, Wanjala said revival of football is in the pipeline.
Although the management is currently focused on restoring the factory to its optimum levels after years of deterioration and decline, he said revival of the club is part of the company’s key Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects that have been lined up.
“Our sugar industry has had a very good symbiotic relation with football. Nearly all the sugar industries have had a football team,” he said.
“Here at Chemelil where we are, has a history of a wonderful team and in the near future, we look forward to that team being revived and that team taking its pride of place,” he said, adding that they will incorporate former players in the revival plans.
“It is an idea we are seriously looking at and I am confident the investor will support us once the factory is complete because we are now at 50 percent. We all know all our sister entities had teams. Mumias had their team. Nzoia had their team that is still surviving in some way,” he added.
“There is a very good relationship between community empowerment and investing in sports. And as Chemelil Sugar 2025, we want our stakeholders to know that within time, we shall be calling on them so that together we can revive our history and our pride,” he affirmed.
After playing in Kenya’s top tier football for 24 years, the club was disbanded in 2020 because of financial constraints, something that significantly affected performance on the pitch; the club was disbanded after failing to register players for the National Super League (NSL).
During its heyday, Chemelil Sugar Football Club produced top players for the national team like former national Musa Otieno, former striker Mike Muiruri, Noah Abich and Joseph Okumu who now plies his trade in France.
A strong defender, Okumu plays in the French Lique 2 after his club, Stade de Reims was relegated from the French top tier at the end of the 2024-25 season.
