Rachier’s office can do better with Gor’s huge fan base 

No, there was no football match involving Gor Mahia last Friday in the fabled Rusinga Island on Lake Victoria. But those not in the know would have been forgiven for thinking so. 

Apparently, a huge entourage of K’Ogalo fans, led by club Treasurer Sally Bolo, gathered in the Island, not for a football match, but to bid farewell to one of their own, the late Collins Ochieng Kwala aka Collo Kwala.

Yes, it was a funeral, but the atmosphere was carnival, as you would expect wherever Gor Mahia travel to. While many are the social events that the club fans attend, they are particularly fond of making huge spectacles at funerals. Resplendent in their team jerseys, they will feast, drink, make merry and break into the club anthem at every opportunity.  

That was the case during Kwala’s burial. Which is all fine in the spirit of giving one of their own a befitting sendoff. But while following the live streaming of the funeral on YouTube, it occurred to me that the club’s management, under the leadership of Ambrose Rachier, have missed out on a big opportunity to commercialise the huge fan base.

And here is my case against Rachier’s office. Gor Mahia has several fan branches in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, yet apart from meagre gate collections, the club draws no meaningful financial gains for its huge following.

At the most basic level, the club has miserably failed to leverage on its massive brand. In particular, merchandising has been a horrendous expedition for the club. Believe you me, and this is not to slight anyone, most of the jerseys you will see fans wearing during the club’s matches and at other social events are counterfeit. 

Worse, for the club, the more innovative of their fans, like the one and only Jaro Soja who also attended the funeral in Rusinga Island, have beaten the club in brand publicity. This clique of ingenious fans ditched the whole idea of donning genuine club merchandise a long time ago. Yet, they’ve made a name for themselves, and a small fortune I presume, by piggybacking on the club’s brand.

Jaro Soja, for instance, I’m told, runs a small enterprise that churns out all sorts of merchandise, including his trademark ‘military’ outfit, in K’Ogalo’s green and white colours, complete with the club’s logo. You can place a sure bet that not a dime from his earnings goes back to the club. But in the Hustler Nation that Kenya has become, who would blame Jaro Soja? 

I’m also made to understand that the several fan branches are semi-autonomous entities. There are no clear guidelines from the club management on how these branches should be run.

So here is my point. If hundreds of fans can organise themselves and travel by road and air to a far-flung island to attend a non-football related event, then it means they are not only an organised lot, but they also have the means and willingness to contribute to anything associated with the club.

If one smart fan can build a small enterprise by riding on the club’s brand, then surely, the smarter chaps, like Rachier, who run the club, must have better ways of commercialising this huge fan base. Or do they?

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