Rachier is in Freemasonry individually, Gor Mahia not involved

Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier during an interview with Nation Sport at his office in Nairobi on February 12, 2020. 


Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Off the bat, Rachier’s own club disassociated itself from their chairman’s Freemasonry ways.
  • The club’s Executive Committee (EC) issued a statement saying the club should not be drawn into Rachier's individual life of being a Freemason since they don't practice it
  • As far as I know, Rachier is in Freemasonry as an individual and not a representative of Gor Mahia

In the Westminster parliamentary system that Kenya acquired - alongside other members of the Commonwealth - from our British colonial masters is a Standing Order that requires every member of parliament to declare his or her personal interest in a matter before the House.

Far be it removed from me to equate this humble column to the August House where venerable ladies and gentlemen we elected - and others nominated - run the affairs of the land. Be that as it may, I am taking my writer’s liberty to declare my interest in the topic of today.

The interest is that the chairman of Gor Mahia Football Club Ambrose Dickens Otieno Rachier, or ADOR to his friends, is known to me personally. Okay not tight as like in the Nairobi parlance of “you guy, my guy” but we are chummy and have shared a drink and a meal.

When the good lawyer went on NTV to reveal that he was a member of the Freemasons, he seemed to have stirred the hornet’s nest what with the reactions that the revelation elicited. His partner at the Rachier and Amollo firm of lawyers Senior Counsel Otiende Amollo was firm in stating that he was not and would never be a member of the Freemasons.

Many of the religious bent saw a recruitment gimmick on the part of the chairman with some stating that Freemasons was an evil society, created right from the pits of hell.

But what piqued my interest was the reaction from the football fraternity. Off the bat, Rachier’s own club disassociated itself from their chairman’s Freemasonry ways.

The club’s Executive Committee (EC) issued a statement saying the club should not be drawn into Rachier's individual life of being a Freemason since they don't practice it. Secretary General Sam Ochola was breathing fire, categorically stating that Rachier was in Freemasonry as a person and that Gor Mahia had nothing to with it.

Which is really the crux of the matter. After the 1998 Nairobi bomb blast, this country was awash with rumours that the bombing was an act by devil worshippers who were out to sacrifice human blood to their gods. To many, Freemasonry and devil worship were two sides of the same coin.

I was one of the journalists who were invited by Freemasons to tour their prayer hall (known as the Lodge) on Nyerere Avenue. The Freemasons or the Brotherhood were out to prove that there was not some insidious organisation as insinuated by many.

From what I gathered from the two gentlemen we met there, the society only admits individuals and not organisations.

In the same vein, I guess Rachier is a man capable of making his own decisions (you don’t build a flourishing legal career by being a dunderhead) and he has his rights to associate with whomever he wants to. As far as I know, he is in Freemasonry as an individual and not a representative of Gor Mahia.

Now to some unnerving news. I am being told that as is their norm, SportPesa gave out to players a special kind of merchandise on such occasions on the day our new partnership was announced.

It happened that some players were absent at the function and an official collected the items ostensibly to pass on to the players concerned. Now the son of Abednego has grabbed the said items, I am being told.

Even more worrying are the claims that some of the players are yet to get their outstanding allowances cleared in full.

If this is indeed true then it must be a really sad event. I am sure if the sponsors get to hear of this, they will be quite upset. Gor Mahia has struggled looking for a sponsor and the least we can do is to have a transparent way of running the affairs of the club.

Chairman Rachier must insist that those running the show are people with the integrity of Caesar’s wife but not freeloaders who will soon rock the brand new marriage between us and SportPesa which is still in the honeymoon stage.