Gor is not the preserve of one tribe, accept help from others
ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo (left) hands over money to Gor Mahia captain Philemon Otieno during a breakfast meeting at a Nairobi hotel on April 25, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Finally a word to the minister: I know for a fact that you are a staunch Christian and the son of a former archbishop so you must be familiar with the Luke 12:28 verse that says that:”To him that much is given much is expected.”
- Kindly hold to account those in charge at Gor Mahia so that every penny dropped into their coffers is accounted for.
One of the best news I got to hear from this past week was the announcement by ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo that he would be rallying his friends to help Gor Mahia acquire a team bus.
The club’s players have been forced to use public means to their training sessions and the management hiring transport to take them to the venues for their match fixtures.
The bus was impounded in March after a former player, Wellington Ochieng’, who played for K’Ogalo between 2016 and 2017 before moving to Tusker, sought redress over unpaid salaries and allowances amounting to some Sh1.7 million.
Speaking after hosting the club to a breakfast at the Serena Hotel, where he also gave out his personal Shs 800,000 towards players’ bonuses, Owalo struck the right chords when he draw comparisons between the current squad and the iconic squad of 1987 that won the Nelson Mandela Cup, being the first club in our neck of the woods to achieve that feat.
“I recently had a meeting with the Executive Committee and observed that the challenges at the club are not insurmountable. I will reach out to partners and friends in the private sector and ensure Gor Mahia has a quality bus.
Should you win the league, we will also strive to ensure we have an additional sponsor for the continental matches,” the minister was quoted as saying.
Just as it should be. It is an open secret that our beloved K’Ogalo needs all the support it can get from fans and well-wishers and Owalo’s financial contribution.
His promise of sourcing for funds to get us a team bus must be appreciated.
After the news broke out, I took time to visit the social media and I stumbled upon some heated debates on the minister’s move. While a good number of supporters hailed the move, there are others who saw nothing more than politics in Owalo’s cash donation and bus pledge to Gor Mahia.
This is the context forming the latter group’s view: “As a club, Gor Mahia is mainly associated with members of the Luo community whose political support sways heavily in the favour of opposition politician Raila Odinga.
Owalo is a Cabinet minister in the government of President William Ruto- the man who beat Raila for the top seat in the last elections. So accepting money from Owalo— and in the jaundiced view Ruto— the club’s management was going against Raila.”
A very warped thinking in my view. I have argued here time and again that Gor Mahia is not a preserve of the Luo community alone but a football team which draws support from every nook and cranny of this country.
Having supported the club- by actually attending matches—for the past 30 or so years— I can confidently say that our playing unit has been a representation of our diverse republic.
As for the argument that Owalo was engaging in politics my retort is very simple— Owalo is a politician and he will always remain one.
In fact, I believe Owalo has been much closer to Raila than many of the “know-it-alls” castigating him.
Finally a word to the minister: I know for a fact that you are a staunch Christian and the son of a former archbishop so you must be familiar with the Luke 12:28 verse that says that:”To him that much is given much is expected.”
Kindly hold to account those in charge at Gor Mahia so that every penny dropped into their coffers is accounted for.
