Kenya is cursed with the most Selfish Football Officials
I once had a conversation with a Nigerian. Nigeria as we know is blessed with abundant talent and Nigerians are genuinely football crazy. They however have been hampered by rampant corruption. If football were run professionally, Nigeria could easily become a football power. He told me that whereas Nigerians are fed up with the incompetence of their Football Association, they simply marvel at the sheer incompetence, ineptitude, corruptness and sheer selfishness of Kenyan football officials. According to him, the Kenyan officials make their Nigerian counterparts look very professional in comparison. The fact that Nigerians who see all manner of corruption are amazed by Kenyan football officials is very telling.
Kenya is indeed cursed with a combination of the most selfish, corrupt and inept group of football officials. As fan of Kenya football, it is disgusting to see the childish and selfish behaviour of Kenya football officials.
After the horrors of the Maina Kariuki era (see write up here) FIFA in their bid top restore sanity to the Federation asked the KFF to hold fresh elections and appoint a new Secretary General. According to FIFA, this position had to be filled by the most qualified candidate available. This meant hiring an Independent consultancy firm (KPMG) to vet candidates and select the most qualified one. The idea is that such positions should be filled by the most qualified candidate in terms of football knowledge, education, intellectual capacity, vision and business acumen. In essence FIFA wanted a meritocracy. In their eyes the best way to move Kenya football forward is to appoint officials who are capable of coming up with a long term vision to transform Kenya football. The candidate chosen by KPMG was Moni Wekesa. But KFF officials thwarted FIFA's good intentions by ignoring KPMGs recommendations and selecting one of their own (Dan Omino). Meritocracy was thrown out of the window and a Dan Omino was selected based on pure favoritism.
Dan Omino typifies what is wrong with Kenya football. He was clearly selected
for that position based on his connections; What we call in Kiswahili "kujuana".
FIFA directed KFF to fill that position using merit. The idea here is that the
best candidate should be selected based on experience, intellect, and vision.
Its an excellent idea because it prevents leaders who lack intellect and vision
from being selected. Titus Kasuve comes to mind in this regard. While he was the
secretary general he made some extremely poor decisions. His decisions betrayed
a man who lacks the requisite intellectual capacity needed for the job.
Moni Wekesa may not be an ideal candidate but he deserves to occupy office based
simply on principal. The principal that states that the best candidate among
those who applied should be offered the job. Previous connections should count
for nothing. The trend towards using external consultancy firms is one that
should be emulated by all sports.
Alfred Sambu may not be an good chairman but the fact remains that he was
democratically elected and should occupy office. Going to court to stop him is
undemocratic and only invites chaos. Yet this is what the selfish KFF officials
did. Thanks to the resultant chaos, fans have tuned out in large numbers and
sponsors will not touch football.
These same KFF officials have often accused Bob Munro of destroying Kenyan
football. Such accusations hare nothing short of ridiculous. If there is any
individual who has done a lot to develop Kenyan football it is Bob Munro. Most
of these officials accusing him have never done anything concrete for Kenya
football. Most are opportunists who will promptly leave the sport after they
have destroyed it and got whatever they wanted, whether its a boost to their
political careers or money.
Fans are tuning out of the sport because they are tired of the selfishness and
pettiness of our officials. And as fans tune out, so do sponsors, the media and
other parties who can give the sport a boost. Shame on these KFF officials.
Omino's incompetence coupled with the self centred nature of officials like Jacob Odundo and Charles Ouma led to Harambee stars players going on strike due to non payment of allowances. The money to pay the players was available but for reasons only known to Omino and his crew, the players were never paid. Kenya was thus banned from the 2005 CECAFA cup. The fact that the KFF refused to pay the allowances of Harambee stars players but promptly came up with the money required for extra air tickets shows that they do not have the interests of the players at heart.
Kenya was then invited to the LG cup. It was a glorious opportunity for Kenya to test their strengths against such teams as Egypt, Nigeria and world cup bound Ecuador. First Omino threw the national team into disarray by inexplicably sidelining the national coach Mohammed Kheri and replacing him with former coach Jacob "Ghost" Mulee. And as fate would have it, the KFF team of Mohammed Hatimy, Titus Kasuve and Omino later decided to withdraw Kenya from the LG cup citing lack of preparedness. This is a lame excuse when you consider that it was a chance for Kenyan players to earn experience and showcase their talents to European scouts. Hatimy and his team clearly withdrew Kenya to advance their own narrow selfish interests. A late attempt to re-enter Kenya into the contest was thwarted by the organizers who had finally lost patience with Kenyan officials. The only people who suffered in the process are the players and the fans who after missing out on the Africa Nations cup, would have welcomed this opportunity. Officials like Hatimy can sit back content that they have acheived their selfish agenda. This is the same Hatimy who along with Maina Kariuki formed what was probably the worst KFF office in Kenya's history. People like him should never be allowed anywhere close to Kenyan football. Yet as fate would have it, he was selected to be the interim KFF chairman as of Dec 22 2005. These are indeed sad and dark days for Kenya football.
The only bright spot in Kenya football at the moment is the Kenya Premier League. It is doing relatively well in large part because it is run independently from the KFF. Yet Omino in his typical selfishness insisted that the league must be run under the auspices of the KFF. This even though he knows that the league will only thrive and attract sponsors and fans if run independently of the KFF. The British Premier league really started to thrive when it became independent. Same for the South African Premier League which is the best run league in Africa.
When FIFA threatened to ban Kenya , these KFF officials (Omino, Odundo, Kasuve, Hatimy and Charles Ouma) said they did not care if Kenya were to be banned and in fact welcomed the ban The fact that they would rather disobey FIFA directives and have Kenya banned speaks volumes about their self centered nature. None of them seem to have the interests of the country at heart. Once Kenya is banned they will leave the sport and return to their private lives after having destroyed those who are trying to earn a livelihood from the sport.
FIFA have often bent over backwards to assist Kenya. They have paid player
allowances, offered to build a soccer academy in Kenya, even offered to help
Kenya find financing. They clearly have the interests of the country at heart.
For that reason most Kenyans support FIFA 100%. For KFF officials to disobey
FIFA is a classic case of biting the hand that feeds you and is the height of
selfishness. FIFA is also interested in building a football academy in Kenya.
The only thing stopping them is the penchant for Kenyan officials to stick their
middle finger at FIFA.
It is high time that Kenyans took a strong stand against self centered officials who do not have the interest of the sport at heart. Fans, players and all Kenyans in general should come together regardless of ethnic affiliation to remove the cancer that is afflicting Kenyan football.