Sikh Union Nairobi (SIMBA Union)

The Sikh Union of Nairobi, now called the SIMBA Union, is the Sikh sports and social club of Nairobi. A brochure of 1959 reprinted by Sikh Heritage (UK) says the Sikhs reached the site of Nairobi with the Uganda Railway about 1896, as part of the railway labour force. The Union's own brief history, also reprinted there, says the Sikh pioneers gave their first attention to religious institutions and then felt the need of a sports body. The Khalsa Club was formed in 1920 with football as its only game, and hockey soon thrived. In the latter part of 1926 the club was renamed the Sikh Union and given a written constitution. Its objects were the social, intellectual and physical improvement of its members; the entrance fee was Shs 10 and the monthly subscription Shs 3.

Key moments

• 1920 to 1928: a ground next to Race Course Road was secured from the Government in 1920 as playing fields. Hockey began in 1921, and the Union's side usually finished top whenever a competition was held. The cricket section opened in 1928. The club toured Nakuru, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Dar-es-Salaam and Moshi.
• 11 February 1934: the Hon. Sardar Hakam Singh laid the foundation stone of the clubhouse. The Mayor of Nairobi had agreed to open it on 8 July 1934. The building, 100 feet by 61 feet, cost Shs 40,000, raised by donations, shows, sweepstakes and subscriptions.
• 27 July 1934: Sir Sayyid Ali bin Salim visited and gave a cheque for 50 pounds towards furniture.
• 1956: the Government appointed Kirpal Singh Sagoo, then president of the Union, as its nominated member for Sikh representation, a seat the brochure does not name. The brochure calls this an honour to the Union.
• 11 December 1959: the Maharaja of Patiala opened a new cricket and tennis pavilion. The club's later history says the opening coincided with its silver jubilee.
• 1959 to 1984: the club's history, now under the name Simba Union, says the hockey side won the D'Souza Gold Cup for the first time in 1959 at its seventh attempt and 14 times after that, toured India and Europe in 1975 and played 22 matches for one defeat, and at one time supplied 10 players to the Kenyan team. The hall was enlarged from 1974 and the extensions were opened on 13 April 1977, with the High Commissioner of India, Air Marshal Arjan Singh, present. Squash courts opened in 1975 and 1983, and the first match on a grass cricket square was played in June 1982.

Other Sikh Unions: the same pages record a Sikh Union at Nakuru, formed in 1951, and another at Arusha, started in 1952. The Nairobi brochure also counts three Sikh libraries in the city: Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Siri Gurudwara Bazaar and the East African Ramgarhia Board.

Where it stands: the sources found carry the club's story only to 1984 and do not say when the name SIMBA Union was adopted or how the club stands today.