Desa Grounds: California estate's historic playground set for major modern makeover

Desa Grounds, a historic playground in California Estate within Kamukunji Constituency, has roots as old as the estate itself. Established in the 1960s through the efforts of former independence minister Tom Mboya, who lobbied the American government to build decent housing for Africans in the Pumwani Majengo area, California Estate was born.

Originally, Desa Grounds served as a site for mixing and preparing construction materials for the homes that now surround it. Hussein Bele, a long-time resident and businessman, recalls, “Before it became a playground, it was where all the building materials were prepared.”

 The playground later got the name “Desert” because no grass ever grew on it.

“It has always been bare,” Bele says. As time went by, as California came to be known as “Cali” or "Calif,"  the playground’s name mutated to "Desa,"  hence catching up with Nairobians’s penchant for coming up with catchy endonyms for places associated with them.

One of the completed fan stand at the Desa Grounds (C) Justin Ondieki

Despite having a hard and dusty playing surface, Desa did not deter the flourishing of football talent in California. If anything, it made the people who played there more brave and skilled by forcing them to be innovative in how they adapted to the rocky and sandy pitch.

"Playing at Desa as a goalkeeper conditioned me to be brave because I had to learn how to dive on hard ground without fear of injury. The same applies for defenders. They just had to learn how to tackle it. That experience made it so easy for me to play on softer pitches,” Wilson Obungu, a former Harambee Stars goalkeeper who was born and raised in the Pumwani Majengo area, says.

Obungu then adds that outfield players also adjusted to the pitch’s surface by learning to move fast while making short and quick passes so as to evade tackles and avoid hard contact with opponents and the ground.

“That is how Jamal Mohammed refined his ball control, dribbling, movement, and passing skills,” Obungu says.

Jamal Mohammed, alias Malo Malo, is a former Harambee Stars and Mathare United player who also played professional football in Europe and the Middle East. He and Obungu are among the many illustrious players who have honed their football at Desa. These include former and current players like Asman Ngaiywa, McDonald Mariga, Mohammed Kheri, Rishadi Shedu, Salim Ali, and Victor Wanyama, among others. There's even a mural of Victor Wanyama that overlooks Desa Grounds from a wall parallel to Marimbi Street, where the playground is located.

“We would end up naming all Nairobi-born footballers if we were to exhaust the list. Playing at Desa is a rite of passage for any footballer born and raised in Eastlands, which is the hub of football talent in Nairobi,” Mohammed Zuberi, popularly known by his aliases Curtis wa Kijee or Cutizo, says. Zuberi, a journalist, says that Desa is famous for producing one of the pioneer stars of women's football, Julia Omusula, who is also a sister to journalist and former footballer Diamond Okusimba.

“Julia was so good that she used to play with boys and Desa is where she nurtured her talent,” Zuberi says.

Jamal Mohammed offered to give the ground a minor facelift to preserve the enduring legacy of Desa Grounds, but his noble idea surpassed him when the community's leadership and the Nairobi County Government became involved.

According to Zuberi, Jamal wanted to give back to the society that raised him, and his plan was to make the playing surface suitable for use in all weather conditions, as well as erect a few stands.

We advised Jamal that we could enhance the pitch's surface by pouring murram on it and flattening it with a roller. That way, it would never become muddy when it rained, and it would stop being dusty,” Zuberi says.

Zuberi reasoned that with such minor changes, the ground would have retained its esteemed playing surface that it owes its name to, and it would have been easy for the community to maintain.

However, Jamal's efforts to move forward with the plan encountered a roadblock when he discovered that he needed to obtain permits from the Nairobi County Government and authorization from the local MCA, Hashim Kamau. During the process of navigating these bureaucratic procedures, Jamal's idea grew beyond his initial scope, leading other community members to believe that a significant renovation of Desa Grounds was imperative.

Yusuf Ali, the brother of former Mathare United coach Salim Ali, chaired a management committee of 15 people with the goal of implementing the upgrading of Desa Grounds in collaboration with the Nairobi County Government.

Bele, who serves as treasurer in that management committee, says that the upgraded Desa Grounds will include an artificial playing surface, an all-round chain link fence, all-round terraces, changing rooms, and an elaborate drainage system. “Its name will even change because the ground will no longer be bare,” Bele says.

Berlin, a youth group that had previously secured funding from USAID to construct a terrace stand on one side of the playground, donated the space for the changing rooms to Desa Grounds. "I am looking forward to the completion of this project because it will aid in the development of football talent in California." We are eager for its success, and we have even ceded part of our car wash space for use in the construction of changing rooms," says Kelly Omollo, the Berlin Youth Group's leader.

Omollo also adds that Desa Grounds is more than just a football field, as it hosts community, cultural, entertainment, political, and religious events. "People use Desa Grounds for Eid celebrations, and a lot of movies and music videos have been shot there," he says.

Despite the ambitious plans to upgrade Desa Grounds, some community members, including Zuberi, expressed opposition to the idea. This opposition stemmed from their experience with Jericho's Camp Toyoyo, where the upgrading process led to the commercialization of the playing ground. This, in turn, resulted in a decline in the playing ground's status due to mismanagement and deterioration of the playing surface.

"Installing an artificial playing surface will mean that people will have to pay to use Desa Grounds, and once money is involved, there could be rifts over ground control and management," Zuberi says with concern. He then adds that the community may be priced out of using the playground, and there will be a challenge in establishing criteria for which parties will be allowed to use the ground for free and which will be required to pay.

Zuberi also raised concern about the safety of artificial playing surfaces, particularly for children.

“Studies conducted by FIFA have shown that artificial surfaces make children and those who use them prone to suffering knee and ankle injuries. Surely, this is not something we want for our children,” Zuberi says before admitting that his protests over the ground’s renovation no longer matter as the train has already left the station.

“As a resident who hopes for the prosperity of this community, I wish the handlers of the project well,” he says.

Obungu believes that limiting the amount of time children spend on artificial turf can address the safety concerns. While the worries are valid, individuals continue to sustain injuries while playing on the hard surface. The best course of action, according to Obungu, is to limit the amount of time children spend playing on the turf, as is the case in Europe.

“An artificial playing surface will greatly improve the skills of our players, as it is better than what was there before,” Omollo of Berlin Youth Group says.

On the other hand, Bele expressed confidence that the management committee will do a good job running the affairs of the new Desa Grounds.

“We will be careful to ensure Desa Grounds does not go the Camp Toyoyo way. Our management committee will exercise prudent control and management of the grounds, and we have already established a list of teams and football academies that will use the ground without paying," Bele says. According to Bele, California residents will use the ground for free every day between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., and only non-residents will have to pay to use it.

Also exempt from paying to use the ground are elderly California residents, who traditionally use the grounds on Sundays for their football games.

The California Ward MCA, Hashim Kamau, adds emphasis to Bele's statement by saying, "Once completed, Desa Grounds will remain under the management of the residents, as that way they can easily carry out repair works on the grounds in the future without relying on the Nairobi County Government, which is bound by procurement rules." To achieve this, the management committee will need to impose charges for ground use, which will also apply to outsiders.

However, the upgrade of Desa Grounds is nine months behind schedule. We closed the playground for upgrading in March 2023 and scheduled its reopening for September 2023. However, only the chain-link fence is currently in place. The playing surface has been filled with gravel while the artificial pitch is laid. The changing rooms are near completion. The metallic structure for the terraces is ready and just waiting to be installed.

"The contractor had to import some of the construction materials, such as the artificial pitch and seats for the terraces, which are similar to those at Nyayo Stadium, which caused the delay in project completion," Kamau says, adding that once completed, the playground will also benefit schools in California that lack a playing field. Kamau expects the contractor to lay the artificial pitch towards the end of July. "We should reopen the ground after two weeks once we lay the turf," he says.

New changing rooms coming up at Desa Grounds in Calif, Eastleigh. Photo by Justin Ondieki

Kamau also says the new Desa Grounds will feature a wall of fame, which, other than footballers and coaches, will also feature the names of famous individuals who came out of California, like Vioja Mahakamani judge Lucy Wangui and musicians like Juakali and Nonini.

Currently, some residents have moved their matches to privately owned artificial football pitches within Kamukunji Constituency, which they pay to use as they wait for the reopening of Desa Grounds, which, as Bele says, may have its name changed. “It will no longer be a desert.”

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