FKF polls: Can 'Kempes' drain the swamp?

Legendary Gor Mahia player Sammy Owino has excited the local football fraternity with his vision for the Kenyan game. Will voters give him a chance in the next elections to lead the nation to football greatness?

During his playing days, Sammy Owino mesmerised opponents with deft moves. His dribbling skills, possession of and confidence with the ball, the ability and effortlessness to control it against opponents made him a football virtuoso.

‘Kempes’, as he was popularly known by football fans, gave them real value for their money and time inside the stadium. He was the best thing to ever happen to his club Gor Mahia and the national team, Harambee Stars.

And he was in absolutely good company, what with Nashon Oluoch ‘Lule’ on the wings, Allan Thigo, Tim Ayieko, George Yoga, just to mention a few legends in the club’s role of honour. After living in the United States for decades, Owino has decided to return home to help develop the game.

He has thrown his hat in the ring and will be contesting for the top seat of Football Kenya Federation in the elections scheduled for February next year. If I had the vote, I would certainly vote for Kempes.

He is an untainted candidate. Having stayed for that long in America, where he preoccupied himself with football coaching, mainly in academies, he possesses the gilt edge knowledge of how the game should be run, benefitting from the best practices of that part of the world.

He could just be the right candidate to bring a paradigm shift in the way the sport ought to be run here, after years of haphazard, run-of-the-mill and rudderless management style.

If Kenyan football stakeholders had the interest of the sport, Kempes is one such person.Kenyans, sadly, prefer to vote for their stomachs rather than competence. Not that Kempes does not possess the wherewithal to challenge for the seat. He knows the dynamics of seeking such high offices in Kenya.

Retired footballers have shied away from these positions because Kenyans just won’t vote for them because they entertained fans inside the stadium.

Why couldn’t Kenya follow the examples of Zambia, who elected Kalusha Bwalya as its FA president, or Tanzania FA, who elected Leodegar Tenga, Ghana’s Abedi Ayew Pele, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, Liberia’s George Opong Weah?

It just did not make sense that Kenyan legends avoided this coveted position for fear of being humiliated at the ballot. Kempes will need these folks in his corner, like-minded former players like Joe Masiga, William Obwaka, Nashon ‘Lule’ Oluoch, Dave Okello, John Bobby Ogolla, Josephat Murila, and Dan Shikanda, among others.

However, so far, only Sammy Shollei, who served briefly in the federation before, who has openly come out to support Kempes’s candidature.

It’s about time former Kenyan footballers took control of the game that catapulted them to international fame. Kempes shared his vision for Kenyan football with The Weekly Review and it resonates very well with what Kenyans have been yearning for. His blueprint puts players at the centre of his vision. “My vision for FKF is for it to be an example of the possibilities of Kenya if things are done correctly,” he says.

And he goes on to say “bringing that vision to reality entails, among other things, involving the right individuals in running of the federation and building trust in the federation”. For long, Kenyan football management has been known more for scandals involving financial mismanagement than successes on the field. If Kempes is given a chance, it could open a new chapter for local football management.

“My immediate priority, if elected, is to rebuild the trust between the federation and government, and to ensure there is transparency in how funds received are channeled towards the growth of the game, eliminate corruption at Kandanda House and bring in more sponsors and partners,” says Kempes.

“My team will ensure the best management practices.” The vision, which appears very inclusive, caters for former players and women in the development of the sport.

“Former players will be involved in running of football when qualified. The vision will create job opportunities from the newly-created infrastructure, will provide education for qualification for the jobs. “It will provide financial education, and how to work with the government to establish retirement fund for former national team players who have served for minimum number of years (to be decided accordingly),” he offers.

That will be a good safety net for former players, many of who languish in poverty. On the current players, he will create awareness on the importance of preparing for life after football by providing financial education, business education and starting football retirement fund, among others.

Kempes has included support for women in his vision, by involving them in “positions at every level” and giving them “an equal opportunity, supporting the women’s national team and awarding women players and teams accordingly”.

He also says the federation will empower sub-branches, branches and county organs more and create a pathway from down there to the national level by providing support and accountability.

“The improvement of existing facilities and development of new ones is critical. It is also very important for the existence of a strong Premier League that is properly managed, branded and marketed to generate interest from viewers and sponsors,” he observes.

The only critical element he hasn’t touched is partnerships with like-minded institutions. Critical areas of interest are exchange of technical programmes involving coaches, referees, the youth, and infrastructure development.

The US will host the 2026 Fifa World Cup. There is a lot at stake to partner with their football stakeholders.

Through his friends in the US, where he was running football academies, he could extend such partnerships to South America and Kenya could be the next centre for international co-operation on football. But, as he correctly states, things may just change for the better with management’s best practices on financials, administration and sales/marketing.

Kempes was a product of Olympic Youth Centres that were created by German Bernard Zgoll. This area is certainly still close to his heart. That, in fact, should be his entry point.

As he plans to expand infrastructure, with the help of government and international partners, he has to put youth development at the heart of his vision. He also includes scouting and League infrastructure in his vision, which is a good thing because former players will be involved in scouting and they will need to be facilitated.

Capacity building must cut across every aspect of Kenyan football, if we are to grow. Even if they excelled during the days, they must be brought up to speed with the emerging changes in this fast-growing sport with its attendant technological developments.

It would be edifying to see ex-players rally behind Kempes across ‘River Jordan’. This game has been run by highly incompetent and incorrigibly corrupt opportunists for far too long.

In every election, players recoil only to support these characters who hardly know what it takes to spot and nurture football talent or changing trends of global football. Their concern, after they’re elected, is to mobilise support of the massive football following behind some political titans.
And the many junkets to Cairo (CAF headquarters) and Zurich (Fifa headquarters).

They have in their tow apparatchiks who will intimidate, insult and humiliate real and imaginary opponents into submission. This is what former players fear most.

Hussein Mohamed is a real fighter and a veteran grassroots mobiliser, who has organised successful tournaments, not just in Nairobi, but all over the country, against the wishes of football chiefs of the day. In the conventional war parlance, Mohamed is a bush fighter.

A go-getter. He charges like a buffalo. He will pull no punches in his quest to land this coveted position. And, like presidential contests, the FA presidency is the deal. Other positions are like flower girls. With Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda set to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals, it would be a fitting tribute for retired footballers and fans were Kempes to be elected.

Stakeholders are still fighting for the Kenyan venues. Football fans prefer Western and Nyanza regions, rather than Eldoret, which seems to have been chosen purely for political correctness. It’s like organising an international athletics event in Kisumu or a cricket tournament in Kakamega. It’s like selling pork in Saudi Arabia.

Like former Cecafa Secretary-General and journalist, Nicholas Musonye, would say, Kenyans think with their stomachs.

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