More is needed to change Kenyan sport than mere photo ops
President William Ruto (left), Sports CS Ababu Namwamba and AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda walk to the pitch after the Football Kenya Federation Premier League match between AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia at Nyayo National Stadium on May 14, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Working with the two biggest local clubs as collaborators is essential, but it inevitably turns poisonous
- As a young-looking, lovable CS, Ababu Namwamba has much more work to do in separating himself from his (many of them poor performing) predecessors
- What these clubs need is an environment that allows them to make a living out of the game
Think of it as the administrational equivalent of a flight to safety. Just as investors trade equities for government bonds when markets tank, so Sports Cabinet Secretaries have developed a short cut that allows them to do the bare minimum while remaining in the good books of the sports fraternity.
For local football, which is riddled by corruption, ineptitude and bad governance, the strategy is simple: Attend major games every season such as last weekend’s Nairobi derby, invite the President, smile for the cameras, throw in some Sh1 million at those two struggling teams and voila! Everyone goes home satisfied. It has happened since I started following local sport a decade ago, and it happened again last weekend. And that, right there, is the problem.
Working with the two biggest local clubs as collaborators is essential, but it inevitably turns poisonous. It becomes a pursuit of popularity and an aversion of possible reprisal. And it leads us nowhere. As a young-looking, lovable CS, Ababu Namwamba has much more work to do in separating himself from his (many of them poor performing) predecessors.
Ever since he reinstated Nick Mwendwa and his coterie to office, many find it hard to discern what the CS believes. Even so, he should know that supporting a culture of handouts is not a winning strategy. Ababu ‘Smart’ doesn’t seem blind to the practical challenges of football governance, but he doesn’t seem to be willing to change anything either. He has not picked a side between disrupting, and maintaining status quo.
Instead, he stands awkwardly between these two ideologies, which makes him come across as a mere caretaker, not a believer in real change.
Yes, Gor and AFC Leopards are struggling financially, but so are all the other clubs in the premier and lower tier leagues. Throwing money at them before a derby is not enough. Giving every club Sh1 million every so often would still not be enough. What these clubs need is an environment that allows them to make a living out of the game.
And modern, well equipped playing and training facilities. And allowances paid on time. And a break from inept leaders whose overreaching fingers must be peeled off our sport before it is too late. Fans are grateful for the restoration of functional administration, but the underlying tension between the returnees led by Mwendwa and those who love and follow the game has not gone away.
Supporting the two clubs is a lovely and kind gesture. But let’s not pretend a Sh1 million grant for these two local heavyweights that have failed to find means of sustaining themselves is the answer.
If Ababu gives every other club that amount and then call them to breakfast twice a year, will that count as a ground breaking solution to the ills bedeviling Kenyan football?
Befriending fans of the two biggest clubs is essential. But, it is a precondition, not a path, to success.
Once the noise surrounding the Afcon bid dies down and the Confederation of African Football begins evaluating our country’s stadium facilities against other competitors, we shall be rudely reminded of the scale of challenge we face in cleaning up and improving the standards of Kenyan football.
That said, have a sporty weekend!
