Olunga, other ex-Gor players abroad must give back to the club

The Bible tells us that to whom much is given, much is expected; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:48).

Giving back is not just a Christian ideology. It is a human virtue that society demands from those deemed to have succeeded in life. More than any other human society, the communal African setting particularly espouses the spirit of giving back, even when your level of success is at best minuscule.

Here in Kenya, giant telco, Safaricom, must have known a thing or two about how much Kenyans love giving back when they rolled out M-Pesa, the innovative and hugely successful mobile money transfer service, many years ago. Simply put, it’s a Kenyan thing to send money to those in need.   

This brings to mind Kenyan international defender, Joseph ‘Crouch’ Okumu, who a few days ago donated a 14-seater matatu to his boyhood club, Chemelil Youth, which competes in the Kisumu County League. 

The lanky defender, who plies his trade for Stade de Reims in the French top division, must have acted out of compassion, with memories of his struggles during his formative years in mind. 

There is no doubt in my mind that the 26-year-old, his success abroad notwithstanding, fully understands the struggles of youngsters who are seeking to follow in his footsteps.

At our dear club Gor Mahia, we have endlessly nurtured and churned out many great players who have turned professional in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, among other top leagues worldwide. 

However, I must say with a lot of disappointment that most of these players have not given back to the club, even at its hour of need. It is a fact they were once ours and we are part of their success stories.

Had they supported us, we wouldn’t have waited for ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo to buy us a club bus. Who knows! With their support maybe by now we could have been the proud owners of a swanky clubhouse, or even a modern stadium somewhere here in Nairobi.

Among these great players who rose through K’Ogalo’s ranks are Michael Olunga (Al Duhail, Qatar), Eric ‘Marcelo’ Ouma (AIK, Sweden), Amos Nondi (Ararat, Armenia), Teddy Akumu (Sagan Tosu, Japan) and US-based Tobias Otieno.

Let me state here, for the record, that as a club we don’t need handouts from these players. What we need is their collective responsibility to help develop the club. By joining hands with the club, these foreign-based former K’Ogalo players would greatly motivate and inspire the team’s current playing unit to fulfill their dreams.

We can’t remain silent yet the players our great club nurtured are ‘eating life’ with a big spoon. A club of Gor Mahia’s stature can’t continue struggling to buy fuel for a trip to honour league matches out of Nairobi, yet we have moneyed family members in the diaspora.

If Okumu bought Chemelil Youth a matatu, the Olungas, Nondis, Akumus, Marcelos and Otienos can do as much, if not more, for Gor Mahia.

Again, we are not forcing you guys to give back to the club, but just remember that Bible verse that I’ve quoted.