July is approaching and once again, it is the season of African Football championship in Stockholm. In the last two years, Kenya football team has been very visible within the African football crowd in Stockholm where the African Challenge Cup has been the main attraction. On the two tournaments which were held during the last two years, the Kenya Footbal Team beat the odds to reach the finals under the tutelage of Coach Makan Macharia. This year, the situation is a bit different because the team is experiencing two major difficulties.
The biggest problem is finance because the team has had no resources since it was constituted two years ago. Cash is needed to hire training ground at 500kr for a session of one hour. Registering for the Africa Challenge Cup costs 2.500kr while during training, money is usually needed for refreshments for the boys. The team needs money for uniforms and playing boots beside vital equipment such as balls. Further, during tournaments, the team usually needs refreshments and, in some cases, food. What this means is that a budget of 10-15k could put the team at a better standing and see it through the tournament.
At the moment, the team does not have a single cent and the problem is so serious that if nothing is done by the Kenyan community in Stockholm, there will be no Kenya Football Team this summer for Kenya football fanatics to cheer beside the field as privately financed nyama choma sizzles on the side-lines, complete with vinywaji and vuvuzellas to boot!
During the two years that the Football team has been in existence, it has been surviving on hand-outs and meagre donations from well-wishers. In many instances, Makan, the coach, has been bankrolling the team while, through the contact of a humble Kenyan with good links to MacDonalds, the team has been able to acquire uniforms. This year, the situation is different because the team’s informal resources have dried up while individual donors who have been chipping in are reported to be suffering from “donor fatigue”.
In the past, there have been self-styled Kenyan businessmen and an assortment of Kenyan Madosi who claimed to have been “sponsoring” the team. According to investigations by KSB, these Sonkos have publicly been basking in the glory of “major sponsors” while in reality, they have never contributed a coin towards the team’s well-being.
According to Coach Makan, there has been a lot of talk among Kenyans in Stockholm about the “huge donations” by these “sponsors” even though the team has always been in the red.
“I wish to clarify that the team has never received any donation from anybody and therefore, those claiming that they have been sponsoring the team should stop doing so”, Makan told KSB.
The Kenyan coach said that he had been forced to make this clarification to clear misunderstandings that the team could be having money to see it through this year’s tournament. According to Makan, some Kenyans think that the Sonkos will come to the rescue of the team once again while the truth is that the Sonkos have never been there for the team in the first place.
Claims of donations by Kenya-Stockholm’s “tycoons”
“As the person who has been in charge of the team, it is my responsibility to report about the issue of sponsorship because some Kenyans might think that the team has money. It is myself and a few Kenyans who have been financing the team from our pockets”, Makan told KSB.
Makan said that the real Kenyans who have been funding the team as private individuals do not want their names to be mentioned because they want to remain private. “They are not many and I know them all”, Makan told KSB.
It is known that a Kenyan businessman had claimed that he had been sponsoring the team with “loads of cash” while a Kenyan Taxi driver also claimed publicly that he has been a major sponsor of the team, claims which were dismissed by Makan as sheer propaganda. In another example, a Kenyan woman tycoon promised to donate 5.000kr to the team but after getting a wild applause from an audience which was, by then, attending a funeral harambee, the woman vanished into thin air.
The promise was made in the presence of a KSB operative and when we followed the matter up with the woman when Kenyans began to question whether the money had been paid, the woman claimed that the Kenyan team had no bank account and that under the circumstances, she could not transfer the funds electronically or write a cheque. As part of her defence, the woman said that 5k is a huge amount of cash which she could not just give to an individual, taking the position that documentation of any contribution to the team was part of accountability.
According to Makan, he is no longer in a position to take both financial responsibility and bringing up the team to compete in the African Challenge Cup because of limitation of time and resources. Makan has appealed to Kenyans to come up and help because the boys are raring to go if the financial and organizational problems facing the team can be addressed. He said that if he can get a couple of volunteers to work with, he can spare some time to give the team the necessary kick it needs, adding that managing the team solo will be impossible this year.
According to Makan, the team could not be registered due to lack of volunteers to form a Committee. “The players cannot sit in the Committee because they cannot be involved in administration while at the same time they are the ones playing in the field”, Makan told KSB.
The Kenyan coach said that any serious person who wanted to support the team economically could have done so by discussing with him. He said that excuses about lack of a bank account are lame because anybody can pay for a playing ground directly, buy equipment, register the team for the tournament or provide refreshments during matches. “You don’t need a bank account to do all these”, the Kenyan coach told KSB.
Kenyans who have ideas on how the team can be rescued should get in touch with Makan directly to discuss the way forward otherwise there will be no team to cheer this year at the African Challenge Cup. This is the reality.
Okoth Osewe
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Omera, call an harambee
KSB: Omera, I hope you are not addressing me as you sit comfortably behind a computer screen probably sipping from a glass of juice, with yr Iphone on the table. I am only passing a message. If you cannot call a harambee, take a walk down the streets. This thing is serious so you should stop pontificating from a distance as if these days, unavumilia kuwa Mkenya.
kenyans kenyans my people, why not organise a fund raising party and we party and what comes out of the party goese to the Harambe stars. The boys do reprecent the flug here.
Money money money must be happy …in the rich mans world? Its all about the money When it come to Kenyans/Afrikans?
When can we do/talk about otherthings where money is never à question?
Are Kenyans more money HORNEY? Than other nationalities?
OBS! What do you think gays?
Peace. N love
A young man by the name of Alexander is busy mobilising a team on facebook. No much interest had been shown at first as he had booked a training session 2 wks ago with his own money but the boys let him down. They will be training this sunday this time more people have shown interest. Kenyans should come out and support these young men, sio pombe saa yote.