Pressure mounts on K’Ogalo chair Rachier to call elections

Pressure is mounting on Gor Mahia chairman, Ambrose Rachier, to relinquish his seat and call for fresh elections despite leading the team to clinch the SportPesa Premier League title three seasons in a row.

His detractors are accusing him of failing to convene an Annual General Meeting for the club polls with his current term having ‘expired’ in January, mismanagement, interfering with the technical bench and the recent repossession of the team bus after the record 15-time champions allegedly defaulted on loan repayments.

When contacted, the Kenyan Premier League chairman and seasoned lawyer declined to comment on the concerns with the club’s failure to impose itself in the defence of the top flight crown thus far as well as the preliminary round exit from the CAF Champions League adding to the mounting disquiet with his leadership.

“There is a problem with management in Gor Mahia. Honestly, they are in that office illegally. The term of office they know very well ended in January with respect to our last elections.

“To this effect, we have not heard anything or anyone talking about the elections. This is a community club, not personal property; we must have a time frame. You cannot just wake up and extend your period, this has created panic, people are campaigning and don’t know when the elections will be,” Ochieng Otieno, a diehard fan said when they visited Radio Citizen Studios.

“It’s not fair for fans and management, people need to go forward. I cannot say why the elections have been held and the management were saying we need to conform to the Sports Act and I want to believe we conformed and know the provisions.

“We should have held that elections and have a new management. When they were unveiling players, there was this video of elections where Rachier was saying we shall do elections in March/April.

“He can talk and he’s not showing commitment to it, he should put it into writing,” he added, noting the infighting at the management level of the club should not affect the performance of the players on the pitch.

The fans further accused Rachier’s office of imposing players on the technical bench for ulterior reasons.

“There are some officials who have brought their own players. I think the coach should be the manager of the team, the coach should sign players and have a say on the players he wants and those he wants to bring on.

“In Gor, someone wants to bring a cousin, a player from their region and the players the coach is targeting are not brought. We’ve been having a junior team in Gor. It seems the management does not recognise this team,” K’Ogalo diehard, Judith Nyangi, who is seeking to run for office when elections are held alleged.

“As fans, we have been pushing for the junior team as a feeder for the main team. The problem there is we recruit players from all over for the junior team, we train the best and they do so well at that level.

“Then you find they have been bought by other teams. Derrick Adero is at Mathare United, we took Amos Nondi on loan to Sony Sugar on loan and he has now returned to Gor. The coach gives names he wants from the junior team based on how they are performing.

“But the executive and I’m not afraid to say, Ambrose Rachier and other officials have their own personal issues. They sign those people who maybe will give them a cut of their salary and this drags Kenyan football down,” she claimed.

“On that matter, I have no comment please,” Rachier told Radio Citizen when reached on phone.

“Gor can run without a sponsor because we have so many fans. Some have stayed away because the club is being run like personal property. There has never been any accountability; one official contracts the ticketing agent.

“Once we confronted the company and they told us tickets being printed outside the system are an inside job and we are asking why? As a chairman, he always says he’s using his own money for a club like Gor, why use all that money if you are not getting anything in return?” Nyangi posed.

On the issue of the bus that was allegedly reposed by the bank, the fans are asking for an explanation since they contributed towards purchasing the 33-seater vehicle to ferry the players to their games.

“I was one of the guys who went to the harambee and contributed towards buying the bus, even if it was little, I denied my family. We are wondering where our money went,” she asserted.

Trouble has been simmering in the club’s top echelons since the start of the season especially when the team entered an undisclosed agreement with SportPesa to become their title sponsor after two years of going without external support following the lapse of their previous deal with SpinKnit Dairies and their Tuzo brand.

Other claims of impropriety levelled against the leadership involve the sale of replica jerseys and the Gor Bread deal the team entered with renowned baker, Elliots at the start of the season.

The SportPesa deal will be formally launched on Friday.

Report by Geoffrey Mwamburi