FOOTBALL IMAGINATIONS STRETCHED TOO FAR!

 The inclusion of 19 year-old Lille forward, Divork Origi into Belgium’s provisional team for next month’s global football extravaganza in Brazil, has broken hearts of many football fans in Kenya. We all had hoped to see him represent Kenya, but it was not to be.

 Harambee Stars tactician, Adel Amrouche unsuccessfully courted the striker to don the national colors and partner Dennis Oliech of AJ Ajaccio. In glee, part of the football fraternity had imagined he would oblige. Sadly to them, he did not and opted to join the Belgium team bound the World Cup. To cut a long story short, the chapter is closed. The son to Mike Okoth, one of Kenya’s best ever strikers will never play for Kenya! Perhaps we should look at some reasons and know why it was never going to be.

 We fantasized too far and wishful thinking got the better of us, the optimistic nation. Call it sterile imagination! Our football is simply chaotic and sobriety is alien, our administrators fight and fuse over endless battles, fights that at best slowly kill our football and the future generations who dream of representing Kenya. We rank low and we are only sinking deeper, while Belgium ranks up high among the world’s best. Stars like Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Adnaj Januzaj and Marruoane Fellaini (Manchester United) and Therbaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid) are a generation to watch! Add robust Manchester City captain Vincent Company, Arsenal’s Thomas Vermalean and Aston Villa’s Chris Benteke. Would have Divork given up this company to come and join our squabble-ridden and politicized football, played in so unfriendly conditions? No, it could not have happened. The lad deserves a place in progressive soccer and Belgium will surely give him that.

 We barely play at the continent’s greatest showpiece (African Nations Cup), we are simply among the dark-horses of African soccer. We challenge at regional level and struggle to win modest championships like Confederation of East and Central African Football (CECAFA)! Most of our friendlies are equally pathetic, so shambolically organized and against weak opponents from whom we barely gain anything! Belgium plies against the world’s best in Europe and across the world and in the best facilities. Luring Divork Origi to Kenya, a young talent with such phenomenal career ahead would have been unfair, morally wrong! Belgium has given the lad a chance to play in the world cup. Kenya, on the other hand have not and cannot grant him this chance: the dream of all footballers in the world.

 Lastly, Kenya has had no part in this lad’s mercurial rise to the top. He has developed from the academy of Racing Genk Club in Belgium and gradually rose to the potent attacker he has turned out to be for Lille in France’s Ligue 1. Not until his performance all along started hitting the news last year, than we started courting him. Attempts by Stars coach, Adel Amrouche were just too ambitious! Origi turned all these down. This week’s inclusion into Coach Marc Wilmot’s Belgium party for the World Cup clearly closed this chapter.

 Young Origi is going to Brazil as part of the Belgium team, not as a Kenyan. The media and sections of our footballing class should stop this obsession with a Kenyan going to the globe’s biggest football bonanza. Let us not fight this hard to have a bite of the omelet that we all did not break an egg to prepare! We are proud of Southampton’s midfield cog, Victor Mugubi, his elder brother, MacDonald Mariga at Inter Milan (Italy) and Dennis Oliech at AJ Ajaccio (France). These are our sons and products of our homegrown soccer. We can churn more of such talents and slowly march to football greatness. Let us stick to that and stop mourning Origi’s loyalty switch to Belgium.

Best of luck Divork, make your father’s country proud and fly the Belgium flag high!

LIFE IS SACRED, RELIGION SHOULD LIVE AND RESPECT THAT

It has so far drawn the ire of the human race, in her homeland of Northern Sudan and across the globe. For marrying a Christian man and denouncing her Muslim faith for Christianity, she has to pay with her life. The woman is pregnant and her crime is leaving Islam for Christianity. She has her story and her accusers have their too. But that is beside the point. In this day and age, marrying form a religion of one’s choice should not be a crime. Neither should denouncing one’s faith for another be considered a crime. It is all the practice of freedom and civilization as the human race. But ridiculous and outrageous things happening in this part of Africa!

  The very religion that preaches sanctity of human life as sacred and created by God is now renegading on it. Some judge has dug into the law and sentenced her to death. For practicing her sincere feelings and emotions as an adult and a free one for that matter, the sincere woman has been sentenced to death. Simply put, you must express your feelings to a person within the confines of a religion! A penalty derived upon religion, the very creed that sanctifies human life, has thrown this to the dungeons and gone for her life.

  

 This is not about fighting religious wars fanned by fanatism and clueless theatrics, no. It is about the world and its acceptance of civilization, respect for human life and the dignity that comes with it. So when a penalty is meted out based on religion, to take away life, then sorry to say but questions must be asked and answered. But perhaps we fear because religion is regarded in some corners as a mystery, unquestionable and free from blemish. But it is not. Whether Christianity, Buddhism or Islam, life must be dignified and respected. We should not use it to deny others their deserved right. When we do that, it stops being religion as it was originally prescribed in the Holy Koran or Bible.

  As the concerned authorities in Northern Sudan go on with the case, on whether to uphold the death sentence or revoke it, they must know that the woman has her rights, rights as a human being and that they must be respected. Anything on the contrary will do more harm than good to religion and all what it teaches vis-à-vis the pragmatism of the same.

  Religion should be a defender for the dignity of life and moral rights of the human race, but not machinery to propagate oppression and defiance of these rights.

WE PRETENTIOUSLY AND SENSELESSLY PLOT OUR DESTRUCTION!

  The country is yet again coming to terms with the death of at least 70 Kenyans, not from terror attacks but from illicit liquor! Sip of Death, Killer Drink and One for the Dead are some of the headlines that ran on national televisions on Tuesday evening! This is a tragedy that has successfully stolen the show from the vicious strikes of terrorism! But in the heat of the mourning, gnashing and lamentations, two things are clear. One, we have lost Kenyans and families, friends and relatives are grieving, and two, the reactions are just too late in the day!

  It is the chilling tale of at least 60 Kenyans, across five counties, all turning victims to a killer bottle. Kiambu, Kitui, Makueni, Embu and Murang’a have all fallen victim to a tragedy that could have been avoided. Sadly, as these chang’aa dens and illicit liquors are brewed and consumed, we all turn a blind eye. These brews are brewed and consumed in the full glare of the public and the government officials. Somebody makes a kill out of killing families, careers and the society. When the inevitable death and dire consequences strike, we all run amok, government officials and elected leaders visit the affected areas, console the victims and as usual issues statements that are good enough to scare the bravest terrorists in town! Kenyans join hands and cry as people turn blind and the not so lucky, head to the grave. However days later, we all forget and will only remember when the next tragedy strikes!

  Our reactions to these chang’aa tragedies are at best baffling. The public point figures at the government and accuse it of ineptitude. In return, the government through her officials, issue tough statements and threaten Armageddon to the culprits. Chiefs are sent on compulsory leaves and somehow, no one takes full responsibility for the buck!

  However all these are just the norm, and as history has taught us, the tragedy returns to haunt the very people. We hardly learn and simply put, we are poor and miserable students of history. Deaths and dire consequences are all too common in the country, especially in the countryside, ghetto and slums of our cities. The scripture repeats itself, from manifestation to its devastating results. Yet all this while what we do is to issue tough statements, mourn and cry together and dress-down some people for sleeping on the job.

  We all watch and turn a blind eye as chang’aa is brewed and consumed. Our friends and close ones sip the deadly drink, all at the excuse of poverty. We do not give it any thought. Law enforcers, government officials and our elected leaders know about it. We let the illegal and immoral business to thrive and flourish. The brewers and king-pins of chang’aa business live amongst us. The society knows about them. We turn a blind eye, a deaf ear and play oblivious of this chang’aa business. Only when its deadly and unforgiving consequences strike and leave pain, death, agony and despondency on the Kenyan society, do we suddenly huddle together, weep, cry, mourn, talk tough, issue statements and threaten apocalypse on the known culprits.  This lasts only days and we soon forget and wait till the next tragedy that we dust our eyes and pretend to see!

  We need decisive action by the law enforcers, government, leaders and the ordinary mwananchi. With these casual and pretentious reactions that we put on whenever the illicit brews bare their ugly faces, the sun is fast disappearing in the horizon and soon, it will be too late in the day! We are a society that is carelessly and fast slaying itself through stupid and non-sensical behaviors

THE DEVOLUTION CROSS-ROADS!

Our much anticipated devolution is slowly turning into a monster, at least to a considerable chunk of the Kenyan populace. Disillusionment and apathy is slowly taking over the eerie and zeal that we had on 27^th August 2010, as we promulgated the new law at a colorful ceremony at Uhuru Park. The world came to witness and tossed the chalice with us. Kenya was simply a darling of many! But years down the line, this is not all a bed of roses as we thought. No, it is not! 

The country is on two minds; some say that the seats are unnecessarily many, roles have been duplicated and yes, different seats yet the same responsibility. This is why the woman representative has been proposed for the chopping board, alongside other MPs and senators. Governors are not that safe too! All this are over-bulging an already bloated wage bill!

However, there is a side that has been rather overlooked may perhaps give us an answer to correcting our devolution. It lies in the moral and social consciousness of the Kenyan society, and our elected, nominated and appointed leaders should listen to this. They would then reconsider going on a soul-searching voyage to re-evaluate what leadership really entails.

Leadership is service to the people, and standing up to be counted upon by those who chose you as their leader. It is not about being self-centered and amassing wealth at the expense of poverty and problem afflicted population, no it is not.Leadership is not about getting fuel-guzzling cars, being exorbitant on getting flashy offices and residential houses and spending big on trips, all at the expense of quality service delivery. No it is not. Leadership is putting the greater good of the people above all personal and individualistic endeavors.

When it comes to political leadership the Kenyan style, one thing is for sure; it is about the selfish and personal interests of the leaders, the rest come in distant second. They will gallantly fight for increased salaries, exemptions from paying tax, grants to buy cars, increased budgets under their watch, never mind that accountability and transparency is non-existent to them and all manner of reasons to help their selfish and individualistic interests. Then you add the corruption scams and the misappropriation of public funds, and the list gets murkier!

If our county assemblies members, MPs, women representatives, senators and governors were the ideal products of a morally sound society, whereby social justice and patriotism ruled, would we still be thinking of reducing all these posts? No, I do not think so. On the contrary, we would be having overs 1400 MCA’s, 350-plus MPs, 47 Governors and senators, each correctly and prudently managing their area of jurisdiction. This would translate to a maiden walk in devolution that would be the perfect recipe to develop our beloved nation.

Devolution is the cure to brightening up the marginalized Northern Kenya, alleviating the impoverished Coast, enhancing healthcare to all Kenyans, improving security, taking our road infrastructure to the next level and ensuring that all social amenities are readily available and in the best quality possible. Devolution is the easiest yet surest way to realize Vision 2030! To the brainy head that gave birth to devolved governance in Kenya, the best interests of the nation were at heart.

However, devolution has been hijacked by selfish and self-centered individuals who see it as the easiest road to amassing wealth and plundering public coffers. Car grants, increased perks and all sorts of monetary benefits are the priorities. Service delivery to the populace of most of the counties is slowly being relegated to the back-foot!

Political pronunciations aside, this country Kenya risks being milked dry. The president publicly said it; yes, we risk running bankrupt. We are running with the risk of a bankrupt central government and equally bankrupt devolved governments. We must clump down on this lustful and egocentric desire for money and more money, increased perks, increased salaries, allowances and extravagant spilling of public money by some of those charged with the responsibility of steering devolution in all the 47 counties.

The Swahilis say, Chanda chema huvikwa pete. We  must laud those who are diligently making devolution work for the greater good of Kenya! Those who belong to the class of Dr. Alred Mutua, the Machakos County boss!

POOR PREPARATIONS COST US IN CONTINENTAL TOURNEYS

‘It was a terrible game. We were chasing shadows most of the time and we had no chance of getting anything from that match’ these were the words of GorMahia’s Scottish coach, Bobby Williamson. This was at the team’s arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, from their 5-0 hiding at the hands of mighty Esperance FC of Tunisia. With this humiliation, our mighty K’Ogalo was bundled out of this year’s CAF Champions League, on 8-2 aggregate!

 

Back to the Nyayo National Stadium, AFC Leopards were eliminated by South Africa’s Supersport United, famously Matsatsantha, after a 2-2 draw, to bow out on a 4-2 aggregate. The 2-0 loss a week earlier in Atteridgeville all but ended Ingw’es chances in this year’s CAF Confederations Cup. Our two flag bearers in continental action are out and we have to wait till 2015 to try our jinxed luck in continental soccer.

To the diehard fans of Ingw’e and GorMahia, their favorite teams were supposed to go some way in battling for this trophies, never mind the fact that they were faced with the continent’s best; the dreaded giants of African football. The fact that Tuzo Milk and Mumias Sugar Companies have heavily bankrolled these giants of Kenyan football further strengthened the hopes and expectations of the fans. But wait a minute, the preparations or lack of it, broke the camel’s back.

The build-up by both AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia, and preparations for their continental assault, were at best mediocre! During the pre-season, South Africa’s Supersport United defeated Barclays Premier League giants Manchester City 2-0. This was during the latter’s pre-season tour of South Africa. To cut a long story short, Supersport were simply gauging themselves against the world’s best, with the 2014 Caf Confederations Cup in mind. Their opponents, our beloved Ingw’e were playing some nondescripts team in town. The only meaningful opposition was in the 2014 Mapinduzi Cup in Tanzania. They then signed a host of new players and offthey were good to go, at least the Kenyan way. They played in the Kenyan season curtain-raiser, the KPLC Charity Cup, and miserably failed to deliver the goods. Mathare United tossed them out in the first match of the knock-out tournament and all we remember best is their fans going hay-wire and turning Nyayo Stadium into chaos! However, this is story for another day.

In the K’Ogalo camp, nothing was much different from their mashemejis!The age-old Kenyan story of run-of-the-mill preparations. Harambee Stars are used to this! The only meaningful build-up matches they tasted was in the knock-out KPLC Charity Cup, where they were clobbered 3-0 by Sofapaka, who went on to lift the cup. Just as in the Ingw’e den, the fans turned chaotic; chairs and stones flew all over, as the police battled them, both inside and outside Nyayo Stadium.

Far away in Tunis, Esperance had top-notch preparations and a pre-season camp in Europe is not sterile imagination! Not for a technically and tactically apt team as Esperance showed a in the first leg played in Nairobi. The giants from Tunisia put three past the green army and even the toughest of the die-hard mayienga followers, must have seen the end in sight. The return match in Tunis was going to be some baptism of fire and the 5-0 crushing summed it all. An aggregate of 8-2 just drew out the huge difference between these two teams.

The writing is on the wall. Our football clubs have a lot to do. Having the financial muscle as Ingw’e and K’Ogalo have, and making prudent use of it are two different things.Our clubs need professionals in their ranks, to scout talent and recruit players based on the specifically needed tactical and technical aspects presently. Signing sprees simply because money is available should not happen; otherwise huge salaries will be paid out to players who cannot deliver the goods. Lastly, preparations for any tournament, regional or continental, should be given the needed attention and effort. Mediocre preparations as what AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia did in their build-up to the dismal continental action should not be repeated. You cannot play against County League teams and other nondescript clubs, yet your opponent is camping in Europe or lining up friendlies against the likes of Manchester City, Never! Learning from your superior opponents is the spirit of the game. The technical benches of Ingw’e and K’Ogalo should have learned from their Esperance and Supersport United counterparts. That way, we will go up the football ladder!

Elsewhere, former Bayern Munich’s president Uli Hoeness has just been sentenced to three and half years in jail for tax evasion in his duty as the club’s president. Can our very own football administrators be scrutinized for any football crime in the same way, and made to pay for the same if found guilty?