I salute Gor chief Rachier for listening to the voice of reason
New Gor Mahia coach Andreas Spier (right) with club chairman Ambrose Rachier during his unveiling on February 1, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The first email was from Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier, a lawyer of no mean repute
- The two gentlemen who wrote to me agreed with what I had written about our two community clubs of pride
After my last week’s article in which I challenged the leadership of both Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards to rise to the occasion and show us what they have achieved over the years, my heart skipped a bit when I received emails from two lawyers.
You see folks those of us in the news industry (at least the respectable ones like the Nation Media Group) live in trepidation of being hauled to court. You never know who has been aggrieved with what you wrote.
Towards that end the editors, as the gatekeepers, are always going through every story they receive with a tooth comb to protect the media house — and by extension the journalist — from any paragraph or sentence that might see a learned friend rushing to the corridors of justice seeking some punitive damages for a name besmirched.
It turned out mine was a false alarm because the two gentlemen who wrote to me agreed with what I had written about our two community clubs of pride.
The first email was from Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier, a lawyer of no mean repute. He wrote: “I read your article in today’s sports page over and over again and I cannot agree more with your thesis, analysis and challenge to my leadership of Gor Mahia F.C.
“I want to assure you that I have embraced both the chiding and the challenge positively and will invite you for a cup of ‘uji’ for more engagement towards the realisation of the desired goals for K’Ogalo.”
I have never had the pleasure of interacting with the second gentleman, also a lawyer called Sam Ndegwa. Be that as it may, the good man who is an avowed Ingwe supporter was also full of praise for the article. This is what the learned friend said: “Good morning, I am Sam Ndegwe (AFC supporter). Your article today (Daily Nation) page 38 is a masterpiece, very insightful and visionary. Keep it up!”
In a nutshell, my article which was about the shameful way our two clubs have been run over the years said this: “Now, I do not want to berate the betting companies that have sponsored these two clubs (SportPesa and later Betsafe), but I have continuously maintained that we need to look beyond shirt sponsorship of we are to survive as clubs.
“It is sad that 50 years after these two clubs were formed, we are still struggling to get our footing yet clubs that came decades after us are stable.
“And this is why I pose this question again to Gor Mahia chairman my friend Ambrose Rachier: ‘What will be your take home pride after you exit from the leadership of Gor Mahia?’”
Although we did not meet up with Rachier for the promised “uji”, I want to doff my cap to the chairman that even after I asked him the hard questions he did not go the way of many Kenyan newsmakers. The modus operandi of this group is to deride the journalist. Claims of money having being poured to finish the subject of the story is also often thrown in for a good measure.
As I look forward to hear from Rachier on the concrete plans he has to take KOgalo to the dizzying heights he has promised us year in year out, I am also throwing the gauntlet at Ingwe leadership. I am sure I am speaking on behalf of the thousands of AFC Leopards domiciled all over the globe that the management lays bare the measures it seeks to improve the club.
Talking of fans all over the globe, has it ever occurred to both Gor and AFC leadership to tap into the potential of supporters in the diaspora? This group has been one of the biggest earners of foreign exchange for Kenya by the way of remittances to their families.
