K’Ogalo Going To CECAFA Anyway

For Gor Mahia to have even imagined Uncle Sam would spend a shilling of his hard earned cash in getting them air tickets to Musonye’s CECAFA was utopian thinking at best. I know that bla bla blaaa from Musonye that federation chiefs had agreed that they’d help CECAFA ease administration by footing travel bills for their representatives to this year’s championship. That, I believe in FKF lingua, is just that; bla blaa!

Yes, Football Kenya Federation is a CECAFA affiliate hence bound by decisions of the regional body. FKF also, we understand, has money. A lot of it! The only problem is that Gor Mahia is not a priority at this fragile time of our football politics. And who told you FKF delights in CECAFA success? Listen, I bet Uncle Sam would turn up in bright colours with a bottle of Vodka in hand at CECAFA’s funeral. And Musonye would possibly procure stones for a mob lynching FKF. Theirs has seemed a hate-hate relationship over the years.

Come back home and hear me. FKF could have provided air tickets for any other Kenyan CECAFA representative, even Bomet County’s Silibwet FC but not Gor Mahia! Do you understand our football politics, any bit of it? You can’t cost Uncle Sam his sleep when he needs you most then expect him to dance to your tune when you need him! Then of all things you are bossing him around asking for some tickets to some tournament whose administration is headed by a traditional foe. Ha!

Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier for long held the key to Uncle Sam’s peace of mind. If he only agreed to enter k’Ogalo into Uncle Sam’s FKF Premier League at the beginning of the season today we would not be talking about these ticket problems. Ambrose also doubles as chairman of KPL – a body that has been in a never-ending tussle with the sole custodian of football in Kenya – yet we still expected the federation to book k’Ogalo Business Class to Dar for CECAFA Club Championship? Ha! Not in Uncle Sam’s world.

But the beauty of all this for Gor Mahia is that our football is always in a politicking mode. With FKF elections ahead and a haughty Musonye ever so keen not to be outsmarted, Gor Mahia will be in Dar somehow. No doubt about that.

It is our time to eat. With a good squad at k’Ogalo buoyed by strikers freely scoring at will, the prospects of CECAFA trophy coming home are so high. This time it doesn’t look like merely participating. They are going for the jugular. Literally! The squad has pace, mental strength, creativity and the experience to compete at this level. It seems it’s for this reason they are parading in the tournament opener against Tanzanian giants Yanga FC. A top notch match of high stakes. And the Green Army is expectant. I hear them say they are now above petty trophies like KPL. They are bringing CECAFA home. Yes, they believe. And I too believe!

With the hopes of the CECAFA trophy coming home let me tell you; everyone would want to be associated with this lurking glory. Whether Uncle Sam lines up past and present federation officials to receive the CECAFA Champions upon return, history will recognize and favor only those that participated in taking Sirkal to Tanzania. So this is an opportunity to anyone out there hungry for mega publicity. Gor Mahia is a billboard now visible across the region. Grab the chance. Vunja mifupa kama bado meno iko!

I don’t understand Bobby Williamson

A local coach recently asked me why Bobby Williamson was still coach of Harambee Stars. “Well, I didn’t hire him,” was my response trying to assert that I could not fire someone I didn’t hire in the first place. “No,” the coach affirmed “you don’t question him because he is White. That’s all.” I have never been drawn into race controversy before. In fact I only recently came to resent racism after reading Chimamanda’s Americannah.

But my coach’s point was made. Kenyans only tolerate Bobby Williamson because he is White. Otherwise, according to this former Harambee Stars tactician, were Bobby a local, he would have been sacked long ago, via SMS most likely.

But what I didn’t understand about Bobby in the Ethiopia match was his handling of the penalty taker Ali Abondo. How would he immediately substitute a player just moments after missing to convert a penalty kick? It wasn’t tactful at all. The substitution looked punitive. And Abondo was flustered. He left the pitch distraught. He was broken. Not even the comfort attempts from teammates on the bench could keep his feeble knees up. Devastating! Players lose penalties. Maybe Bobby has never heard of the great story of the great Roberto Baggio.

If Kenyans would treat Bobby Williamson with the same measure he subjected Ali Abondo then I think my local coach had a point in his Bobby rants. Why exactly is Bobby Williamson still coach of Harambee stars?

@TomBwana