Eto’o, Puma boss in Laikipia on Tuesday

Cameroon football star Samuel Eto’o arrives in Nairobi at dawn on Tuesday and will be the chief guest at Wednesday’s final of the Laikipia and Beyond Unity Cup at the Nanyuki Municipal Stadium.

Eto’o will be accompanied by Jochen Zeitz, the founder of tournament sponsors, Zeitz Foundation and chairman of the board at German sportswear and lifestyle company, Puma and will be received on arrival by Football Kenya Federation chairman Sam Nyamweya.

Highest paid footballer

Eto’o is expected at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 5.30am and will catch a connecting flight at the Wilson Airport to Laikipia for his two-day tour.

Eto’o, who plays for rich Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, was recently listed as one of the top four highest paid footballers - behind his former team-mate at Barcelona Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and David Beckham (LA Galaxy).

The Cameroonian earns an estimated annual income of 19.4 million pounds (Sh2.6 billion).

Eto’o is the highest paid footballer in the world, in terms of club salary, with his Sh2.4 billion-a-year deal at Anzhi Makhachkala.

Anzhi is owned by powerful Russian oil and metals magnate, billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, currently the 118th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of about $7.8 billion (Sh655.2 billion).

The Laikipia and Beyond Unity Cup’s regional finals were played a fortnight ago at the Kinamba Secondary School with Kichakun FC beating Kinamba FC 2-1 through the golden goal rule.

The tournament, is organised by the Zeitz Foundation and the Laikipia Wildlife Forum, and brings together the diverse communities with the main aim of fostering peace, unity and understanding besides building environmental awareness and delivering healthcare to the marginalised communities of Laikipia. The theme for this year’s tournament is “Safe People Safe Wildlife.”

Psychological ‘disconnect’

“The Laikipia Unity Cup theme presents a change of tack on the part of wildlife conservation practitioners as we seek to bridge a psychological ‘disconnect’ that should never have been there in the first place,” the Zeitz Foundation says in a press statement.

Also expected at the final on Wednesday are Wilfred Lemke, the United Nations Secretary General’s special adviser on sports, UN Under Secretary General for Environment, Achim Steiner and the German ambassador to Kenya, Margit Hell Wig-Botte.

The Members of Parliament for Laikipia East and West, Mwangi Kiunjuri and Nderitu Muriithi are also expected to attend.