By Francis Ngira
“Old dogs can’t be taught new tricks.” Whereas I fully agree with whoever coined the above saying, I also certainly know that cleaning up Kenya’s top soccer management scene is no mean fete and therefore should not be hurriedly delved into. It’s without doubt that the federation badly required new brains or rather ideas like yesterday. That not withstanding, the whole exercise must be a gradual process that’s treated antiseptically.
FAN EDUCATION:
The first step towards this should be the fans’ own deliberate effort to form part of a critical mass of ardent followers that understand the history and rules that govern the game; I think an informed fan is a hunderd and one times better placed to soberly help govern the sport on and off the pitch than just a passionate, energetic, and clueless one. Unfortunately, we have more of the latter, very dangerous beings around our football.The obvious arrogance, ignorance and selective amnesia amongst our football fans that almost always feels immanent has to stop if we are to make any meaningful strides; Look at Rwanda today.
There are few ugly instances I have observed that fans ought to change first if we are to be taken seriously by whoever is in the office unless we are all just ‘Vanilla followers’ of the game.
CLUB MEMBERSHIP:
my experience of having started watching the premier League as a toddler coupled with slightly more than half a decade of covering KPL matches and derbies to be precise, provides me with throngs of sweet and bitter memories.
Each derby day I see flocks of you in blue and green jerseys displaying your allegiance by use of all sorts of paraphernalia, this is good. Suprisingly enough, not even a half of this maltitude has agreed to give this clubs an economic value by registering as club members but want to have a say in all decision making fora.
This same fans know little or nothing about all or just the simple OFF SIDE RULE and will go ahead to cause chaos, vandalise property at the stadia, and commit all manners of criminal activities that eventually land the poverty stricken clubs in problems, forcing them back into their already dry pockets. Question, what then makes you different from the successive regimes?
“If you love it crown it!” This statement is not yet tired, atleast not when the topic is “supporting our Kenyan clubs”.
HARAMBEE STARS:
It might sound like a hyperbole to casual lookers but a fact to a serious seeker. This team has thirty diehard fans and millions of cosmetic ones.
In June 2005 former national team skipper, Dennis Oliech refused to travel to Guinea over claims of unpaid allowances.
. It was so bad that his mother Mary Oliech had to join in the clamor for her son’s hard earned money. I remember her sound bite in one of the news clips, “…Wapatie Dennis pesa yake…!” I think I have a hint as to why Mama Oliech joined this campaign with absolute conviction all over her face. I will remind you so don’t sweat if you have forgotten but I’ll have to say this first. The selective amnesia in this country on all issues that matter is appalling.
When Dennis Oliech’s elder brother, Steve Okumu (R.I.P) died in the states, very few of you including those in sports management joined Mama Mary to get her son’s body flown to Nairobi for a decent burial. Remember Steve was once a dependable national team player just like Dennis.
As cancerous as this unpaid monies problem is, in Feb 2012 McDonald Mariga refused to join the stars camp over a backlog of unpaid ticket reimbursement monies. The fans who are supposed to be the only cushion between our oftenly voiceless players and the federation castigated the two gallant sons of this soil using all sorts of demeaning adjectives. Some went to an extent of questioning their patriotism at the expense of the federation’s sacred cows.
As if that is was not enough display of amnesia, the day Kenya was bundled out of the 2015 AFCON campaign at Nyayo national stadium, I saw an angry mob accost the Harrambee stars captain, Victor Wanyama. It would have been laughable if it wasn’t so sad that we all forgot we were the ill prepared side.
The only best preparation we had was a trip to watch the 2014 world cup from our fan number one, his execellency the president of the republic of Kenya, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta. Many analysts have branded this as the epitome of ignorance in the history of Kenyan football; this is like taking the students of a lowly ranked and ill equiped secondary school to go watch Alliance High school sit for their exams. Mr. President kindly be the first ‘new fan’ then the new office will be inevitable.
The author is just a live sports cameraman who sees all these through his lens though without sound.
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