Team Kenya at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Top of Africa screams the headline. It is a rare day when the endless noise of Kenyan politics is not the main story in Kenyan media. 

Team Kenya with 4 golds, 4 silvers and 2 bronze is the best ranked nation in Africa on the medal standings at the conclusion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

Due to this achievement, sports which is rarely taken serious in Kenya – whether in the newsroom, in the corporate world, by the national or county governments or even by the Kenyan public – gets it’s once-in-every four years moment to briefly shine before it is once again ignored. 

What do you think of the performance of Team Kenya at the Olympics is a question that I was asked a lot since the start of the Games.  

Given that the athletics program started on the second week of the Olympics and Kenyans were impatient for wins early on, a narrative was born and it stuck that Team Kenya preparations were poor, the team sent to Tokyo was bad, heck there was even fake news about the number of officials accompanying the team. 

The National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) which is the body mandated by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to run Olympics related matters in the country delivered in its job.

There was no issue of kits being stolen or allowances not being given to sportspeople as has been the norm in past Olympics. This was alleged to have happened during the last Olympics held in Rio in 2016 resulting in those in-charge being arraigned in court. It is a testament to the slow nature of Kenya’s wheels of justice that the Rio case that involves among others former Sports minister Dr. Hassan Wario is still dragging on in court. 

Additionally, with it being a pandemic year, NOC-K ensured the sportspeople heading to Tokyo were put in training bubbles. Luckily no Kenyan heading for the Olympics tested positive for Covid before or during the games. 

To boost performance in Tokyo, Team Kenya was even accompanied by a sports psychologist, a sports scientist, a strength and conditioning coach and a nutritionist.

So NOC-K under legendary athlete Paul Tergat did its work with the sportspeople it was given. 

Still under NOC-K it is fair to celebrate the fact that Kenyan rugby legend Humphrey Kayange under the recommendation of the IOC President Thomas Bach was appointed to be a member of the IOC Athlete Commission.

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The mandate of preparing, qualifying and selecting sportspeople to represent Kenya at the Olympics falls under the specific national federations. 

Only after a sports person has qualified for the Olympics does NOC-K get involved. Therefore, the biggest responsibility regarding performance falls on the national federations. 

Now to answer the question about performance let’s tackle each sports on its own.

Athletics:

Athletics is the cornerstone of Kenya’s sporting dominance and the Olympics is no different.

Since 1964 independent Kenya has participated in 13 Olympics (there were boycotts in 1976 and 1980) and bagged a total of 35 gold medals. All the golds apart from 1 have come from athletics. 

Tokyo 2020 was no different with athletics delivering all the 4 gold medals Kenya won. 

Of the 4 golds, 2 were in the marathons with track victory only in 1500m women’s and 800m men’s races. 

For awhile now Kenya’s athletics dominance has been taken for granted. However, Athletics Kenya which is the federation that runs the sport in the country has to wake up and smell the coffee before it is too late. 

Men’s 3000m steeplechase race has traditionally been Kenya’s race. Since the first win during the 1968 Olympics by Amos Biwott, a Kenyan has won the steeplechase gold in every Olympics Kenya has participated. In Tokyo 2020 Kenya lost her steeplechase crown managing only bronze. 

Kenya has only ever won the Olympics men’s 10000m race once when Naftali Temu was victorious in 1968 in Mexico City. 11 attempts later and Kenya has been unable to solve this puzzle. The Olympics women’s 10,000m was introduced in 1988 and no Kenyan woman has ever won gold. 

In the Olympics 5000m race only John Ngugi (1988) and Vivian Cheruiyot (2016) have ever won gold for Kenya. 
In Tokyo, Hellen Obiri was fourth in the women’s 10k and she bagged silver in the women’s 5k. While for the men Nicholas Kimeli was fourth in 5k and Rodgers Kwemoi in 7th was best placed Kenyan in 10k. 

Part of the problem has been that Kenyan 5,000m and 10,000m athletes opt to switch to road (marathon) running very early and not after a long successful career on the track. There is more money in road running and as athletes run to make money their choice is obvious. It is up to AK to figure out what Ethiopia, Uganda and even America are doing right.

In the middle distances – 800m and 1500m – it’s a mix of hope and despair. 

Men’s 800m transition seems to have been managed well. The absence of David Rudisha was not felt as America-based Emmanuel Korir won gold and Ferguson Rotich took silver in Tokyo. 

Women’s 800m transition looks shaky. With the end of the era that had Eunice Sum, Janeth Jepkosgei and Pamela Jelimo, Kenya had no representation in the Tokyo final won by 19 year old American and in which a 19 year old Briton took silver. 

Timothy Cheruiyot won silver in the men’s 1500m after poor tactics in the final but the emergence of Abel Kipsang who set an Olympic record in the semifinals before placing fourth in the final shows there is current and future potential. 

In the women’s 1500m, Faith Kipyegon defended her Rio Olympics gold. That is the great news. The bad news is there does not seem to be another Faith bubbling under ready to take over the mantle. 

The sprints – 100m, 200m, 400m and relays – have never been taken seriously by Athletics Kenya. While the middle and long distance running is all about talent and little expert input, the sprints require financial input which AK opts not to do. 

Sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala made it to the final of the 100m men’s race setting the national record twice in Tokyo which was great. 

However, there was a cloud of doping hanging over the Kenyan sprint success as 100m sprinter Mark Otieno tested positive for a banned substance and could not compete in Tokyo. Incidentally, Omanyala had previously served a ban for a doping violation.

In men’s javelin despite Julius Yego throwing his season best of 77.34m he did not get to the final. Remember he threw a massive 92.72m in 2015 Beijing Worlds to win gold and 88.24m in 2016 Rio Olympics to bag silver.

Seems to be an end of an era with no immediate successor in sight. 

Overall, my take home from athletics in Tokyo is Uganda has joined Ethiopia as credible opponents and Kenya has to do more to protect its turf and legacy. The days of just showing up and winning are over. 

With teenagers and 20 year olds winning athletics golds for their countries at the Olympics, Athletics Kenya has to ask itself whether the pipeline of Kenyan athletics talent has been punctured. 

The country hosted a very successful and well-attended World Under 18 athletics championships in 2017. This led to Nairobi winning the bid to host the World Under 20 athletics championships in 2020 that was pushed to 2021 due to Covid-19.

But Kenya does not seem to have reaped rewards of hosting the age-grade athletics championships to identify young talent to bolster the seniors ranks. What happened to Edward Zakayo, George Manangoi, Jackline Wambui and Carren Chebet all who won gold for Kenya at the 2017 World-U18 in Kasarani? Only Mary Moraa who narrowly missed a spot in the final of the Olympics women’s 800m final seems to have emerged as a young red hot talent for Kenya.

Aside from more intensive talent identification and nurturing, training and coaching of Kenyan athletes has to get modernized.

Sports infrastructure (stadia) in Kenya has to be sorted out urgently as athletes should not be worrying about where to train. The main facility in Eldoret – Kipchoge Keino stadium – has been under renovation since 2016.

The doping menace also has to be stamped out. Additionally Athletics Kenya should have a coherent rule book regarding an athlete who has served a doping ban representing Kenya.

Clearly there is potential to diversify and win medals in sprints and in field events but success requires Athletics Kenya to  invest heavily and constantly and not just depend on an athlete to train via YouTube and achieve success. 

Athletics Kenya elections is a conversation that needs to happen with fresh blood needed at Riadha House.

Boxing:

Robert Wangila Napunyi poses with his Seoul Olympics gold – courtesy of The Standard online

Boxing has the honour of winning 1 out of the 35 gold medals Kenya has ever won at an Olympics. Robert Wangila Napunyi won the gold during the Seoul Olympics in 1988. 

This was the climax  of the Hit Squad performing well at the Olympics that began with Philip Waruinge winning featherweight bronze in Mexico City in 1968 and upgrading to silver in 1972 in Munich. 

Since then the Hit Squad – which is the name of the Kenyan boxing team – has been taking hits. 

In Tokyo 2020 all the 4 reps lost their in first bouts. From the thrashing the boxers got the level of Kenyan boxing is sub-standard.

Coaching and training, needs to be upgraded to embrace  modern rules so as to eliminate constant complaints about robbed victories. The league also should being revitalized and the dormant clubs awakened to tap new talent from the hordes of unemployed youth. 

The Boxing Federation of Kenya clearly has its work cut out.

Rugby sevens:

Shujaa captain Andrew Amonde who has retired in a reflective mood at the end of his final game for Kenya

Rugby sevens was introduced to the Olympics in 2016 with Kenyan rugby legend Humphrey Kayange instrumental as an ambassador in the sport’s bid for Olympic status. 

The national sevens men’s team Shujaa has performed poorly at the Olympics. Shujaa finished 11th in Rio and only went one better to finish 10th out of 12 in Tokyo. 

This is disappointing given the huge potential. The probable next step in this familiar script is a change of coach, and player exits, retirements. One wonders if root problems will ever be addressed and a solid plan formed. 

Over the years the success of Kenya sevens has glossed over the problems at Kenya Rugby Union. With Shujaa performance dropping, the facade of Kenyan rugby success is unraveling. 

The Kenyan Rugby story has sad echoes of Kenyan cricket which reached the peaks of a semifinal berth in the Cricket World Cup before crashing down to oblivion. Hopefully history will not be repeated.

In the Women’s 7s rugby Kenya was represented by the Lionesses who finished 10th out of 12 after playing with a lot of heart.

This despite Covid protocol challenges where half the team had to quarantine in Tokyo until just before the start of competition after sharing a flight with someone who tested positive.

The ladies need more support and they will achieve just as much as the men’s sevens national team has. 

Volleyball:

After a 16 year absence the national women’s volleyball team qualified for the Olympics Indoor Volleyball.
The Malkia Strikers lost 5 out of 5 matches and won zero sets. The African champions showed potential and played with a lot of joy. 

Sharon Chepchumba, Leonida Kasaya and captain Mercy Moim stood out and one hopes they secure professional playing contracts abroad. 

Curious how Kenyan coach Paul Bitok who engineered the return to Olympics was demoted to assistant coach and a group of Brazilian coaches initially seconded to the team as technical advisors were promoted to the head coach as well as team manager. 

With the upcoming retirement of the long-time chair, the Kenya Volleyball Federation needs fresh blood and hopefully former volleyballers get into sports administration. 

For the first time Kenya qualified for Women’s Beach volleyball. The team lost 4 out of 4 matches and won 0 sets. However there is potential, there is sand and for starters Coastal county governments should take up this sport. 

Taekwondo:

Faith Ogallo was sole representative. She lost in her first match where she could not score a point losing 13-0.

Her technical skills were totally lacking but you could not blame her as much of Kenyan taekwondo is individual effort and just her qualifying for the Olympics was a huge accomplishment. 

Swimming:

Emily Muteti  placed 43 out of 81 in women’s 50m freestyle heats while Danilo Rosafio placed 56 out of 70 in the men’s 100m freestyle heats. 

Both swimmers got wildcards to participate in Tokyo from the international swimming body. They are arguably the best in the country with the fact that their swimming exploits are financed by their parents playing a huge part.

Unfortunately, Kenyan swimming drowned long ago with wrangles in Kenya Swimming Federation the norm. 

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With the Tokyo Olympics done and dusted it will be interesting to read the official report that will be prepared by the National Olympics Committee of Kenya. 

While NOC-K and even the Sports ministry may have done a fairly good job at managing the Tokyo Olympics team there is pause for concern regarding management of sports in the country by the various sports federations. 

Case in point is that Archery, Judo, Weightlifting representation which was present in Rio 2016 was missing in Tokyo 2020.

Over the years, Kenya has also had Olympics representation in Shooting, Hockey, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Cycling and Rowing.

It is a shame that now most of these sports do not have a functional league or even a functional federation. 

Globally sports has proven to be a big industry that generates billions of dollars.

Given Kenyan sports peoples’ raw talent that enables the constant success, just imagine if Kenya took sports seriously the amount of money and employment to Kenyan youth that this industry would generate. 

The fix on Kenyan football and the confessions of a global match-fixer

“Why had I not met you before? You know exactly what you have to do and you deliver it single-handedly.”

High praise from the high priest of football match-fixing globally. 

These words are from a memoir “Kelong Kings” described by its publishers as the “ultimate tale about gambling, soccer and match-fixing, told directly by the man who made it all happen.”

Courtesy – Amazon

The man was Wilson Raj Perumal, one of the shareholders of a Singapore-based match-fixing syndicate that manipulated the outcome of football matches worldwide so as to bet on the rigged results.

Singaporean Perumal spoke as he reportedly struck a deal in 2010 with Willis Ochieng, a Kenyan goalkeeper who was then playing in the Finnish top league.

The goalkeeper is alleged to have been paid twenty-five thousand euros (6 million Kenyan shillings) to fix two games with Perumal gushing in his praise, “Willis proved to be the kind of player that match-fixers want for their business; convinced and dedicated.”

Despite the details of the deal being spelt out in Perumal’s book, football’s world governing body FIFA found the Kenyan goalkeeper had no case to answer. 

Fast forward 11years later and Willis having retired from active professional football now works as a goalkeeper trainer in the Kenyan Premier league (KPL). 

For the last 4 years he had been tasked with sharing his skills with the goalkeepers of KPL defending champions Gor Mahia. 

How a player whose name on Google search reveals his match-fixing past was not only able find work in the KPL but on the technical bench of the perennial champions should be cause for concern. 

Pool – Sportspesa news

39-year old Willis, born and bred in the slums of Mathare in Nairobi and known in football circles as Awilo resigned his position at Gor Mahia last month claiming his abrupt departure was because he had not been paid for 14 months.

However, his exit coincided with a probe instigated by Gor’s officials to investigate whether a string of poor results by the team was as a result of some players and technical officials being involved in match-fixing.

Willis continues to plead his innocence but Kenyan football lost its innocence long ago. 

As far back as 2009 Perumal had an association with officials in the Kenyan football federation (FKF). Through his wheeler-dealing national football teams participated in tournaments across the globe that are mentioned in “Kelong Kings” as having being manipulated for financial gain.

The dalliance culminated in the fixing of Kenya’s 2010 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria that eventually saw defender George “Wise” Owino banned for 10 years from all football related activities by FIFA and handed a hefty fine.

In February 2020, FIFA banned four East African players for manipulation of matches during the 2019 KPL season. This as dubious Singaporean companies purported to sponsor teams in the KPL with a curious provision that they be allowed to introduce players – normally defenders and goalkeepers – into the teams. As recently as January 2021, a Ugandan was arrested in Kisumu allegedly trying to fix a KPL match pitting Western Stima against KCB. 

European betting is mostly premised on results: win, draw or loss but Asian betting is more about goals scored, conceded and at what time.  This makes it harder to detect a match that is being manipulated especially in a league setting.

According to “Kelong Kings”, “if you have a league club, you let it play, because this is your chicken that’s going to give you an egg every week: a golden egg.”

The KPL has a total of 34 games in a season all which are available for betting and whose results are updated in real-time making the Kenyan top flight league a golden goose for betting syndicates.

Pool – KPL Media

How golden? According to the book, illegal Asian betting syndicates powered by live betting reportedly make over a million US dollars in profit from a single fixed match.

To ensure that the goose keeps laying the eggs, the match-fixers are willing to splurge. Perumal shares that, “In 2008, the market rate for players was around 20 thousand US dollars per match for a goalkeeper and 10 thousand US dollars for a defender. While sixty thousand US dollars bought you the full set of referees (1 centre ref and 2 assistants).”

When you consider these amounts in the backdrop of the poverty that engulfs Kenyan football it is clear that the managers of football in the country have their work cut out to rid the beautiful game of the match-fixing stain. 

However, this may prove to be tough as Kenyan football currently runs on betting money. BetKing is the title sponsor of the KPL while OdiBets are so-called motivational partners of Harambee Stars. 

Pool – FKF Communications

This sticky situation is aptly captured in “Kelong Kings” as Perumal states, “Nowadays football equals gambling plus live betting and betting companies provide a good portion of the money needed to keep the whole circus afloat.”

After reading the “Kelong Kings” one cannot help but look at football in a new light. Thinking how much of what is cheered on so loudly is real and how much of it is fake. 

The book also shows the mindset of a compulsive gambler as Perumal gambles away millions of dollars in matches that he has not fixed.

The “Kelong Kings” which is currently only available on Kindle on Amazon with the paperback version out of stock should be a must read for all football fans. 

Fair warning though, the book is mostly written in Perumal’s words and the language is crude and his prejudice seeps through.

Patience is required as the book builds up slowly starting in rural Singapore before going on to touch all the corners of the globe in an astonishing web of corruption and greed.

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Pool – AIPS

A silver lining over the cloud of match-fixing that hangs over the Kenyan football is the fact that NTV’s Idah Waringa and former Daily Nation football writer Jeff Kinyanjui were recently feted by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) for their investigative reporting on the scourge on various Nation Media Group platforms. 

Making Kenyan golf magical

There was little magical about the 2021 Magical Kenya Open European Tour event that was held at the par-71 Karen Country Club last weekend. 

South African Justin Harding may have smiled as he banked 20 million Kenyan shillings for his win as he improved from joint-second in 2019 but for Kenyan golfers, the Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) who are the organizers of the event and for the Kenyan government which is the title sponsor, there was little to smile about.

South African, Justin Harding, is presented with the Kenya Open Golf Championship trophy by President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Karen Country Club. (Photo: Caleb Oketch/IMG Kenya)

The Kenya Open which is Kenya’s premier golf event joined the prestigious European Tour in 2019 as the Kenyan government sought to use golf to boost tourism in the country. 

The Coronavirus pandemic saw the 2020 edition cancelled with the 2021 edition looking to build on the 2019 gains. In keeping with Ministry of Health guidelines the 2021 Open was played without fans in attendance and with golfers and caddies in a bio-secure bubble.

This meant the visiting golfers would not be able to adequately sample Kenya’s tourism offering lying to waste the government’s ambition of using golf to boost tourism numbers. 

When announcing the Kenya Tourism Board title sponsorship in 2019 of the Kenya Open, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala had celebrated the fact that the event would be beamed into homes globally. A television reach estimated at a possible 600 million viewers was set to offer a great marketing opportunity for Kenya as a tourism destination. 

However, due to what the European Tour Productions termed as “logistical difficulties” the live world feed coverage that was to be used by Sky Sports and global broadcast partners was unavailable for three of the four days of the Magical Kenya Open. No TV coverage basically meant that if there was any magic on the greens it was being seen by no-one thereby hammering a further nail into the sports tourism coffin.

Courtesy – Google

For the main story out of Karen country club on international media for three days of the Kenya Open to have been the lack of TV coverage was a huge blow to Kenya’s ambition to be a sports tourism hub through the hosting of high profile international sports events.

In June, the iconic Safari Rally is poised to rev off as a World Rally Championship leg. Kenya’s ability to pull off a flawless Safari amidst Covid-19 will lie in its ability to have world class organization and attention to detail. The world will be watching if the WRC Safari Rally organizers will have learnt from the mistakes of the 2021 Magical Kenya Open.

Onto the golfing action and from a Kenyan perspective there was very little to cheer. Only one Kenyan professional golfer, Samuel Njoroge of Railway Club made the cut in 2021 down from the two – Simon Ngige of Thika Golf Club and Justus Madoya of Great Rift Valley Lodge Golf Resort – who made the cut in 2019.

25-year old Njoroge, carded at par overall after rounds of 72, 68, 74, 70 to finish at position 77. For his efforts he banked 2, 257 euros which is Ksh. 293,000 from the event’s purse. He also took home the Ksh. 100,000 award from KBL for every Kenyan golfer to make the cut.

Railways professional golfer Samuel Njoroge in action during the 2021 Magical Kenya Open.   (Photo: Caleb Oketch/IMG Kenya)

This poor performance was despite the best efforts of KOGL through the Safari Golf Tour, which was launched in 2018 as a preparation pad for local and regional professional players heading into the Kenya Open.

No Kenyan professional golfer has ever won the Kenya Open with Jacob Okello’s second place finish in 1998 the closest a Kenyan has gotten to success. It speaks volumes that Okello is still representing Kenya 23 years later.

(Left to Right) Pro-Golfers Dismas indiza, Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi, Samuel Njoroge, Rizwan Charania, Jacob Okello, Greg Snow and Mathew Omondi. (Photo: Caleb Oketch/IMG Kenya)

From a layman’s perspective there are various reasons as to the continued poor performance of Kenyan golfers at the Kenya Open. First, golf still retains an elitist tag and is not seen as an actual sport by the general public. Second, the median age that Kenyan professional golfers pick up the sport is quite high compared to top golfers globally. Third, sponsorship of actual golfers to horn their skills at high level golf events outside the country is negligible. Fourth, the public golf facility at Lenana School that has been promised for years by the government is yet to be actualized.

A public golf facility would take the sport to the masses in ways the members-only golf clubs cannot while the facility been in a school would serve as a way to attract regular Kenyan kids to the sport thus removing the elitist tag while also reducing the age of Kenyan pro-golfers. Public tennis spaces in the under-privileged areas of California in America gave the world the phenomenal Williams sisters. 

The one Magical thing about the Kenya Open is its ability to attract sponsorship. While other sports federations are barely surviving with the effects of the pandemic hitting Kenyan sportspeople hard, Kenya Open Golf Limited is swimming in money. Kenya Tourism Board, Vision 2030 Delivery secretariat, Absa Kenya, Kenya Breweries Limited all swung in with millions of shillings to boost the 2021 Magical Kenya Open.

Courtesy – Google

How to turn the cash liquidity to Kenyan success on the greens is the million dollar question.

*A version of this article first appeared on Business Daily.

Simiyu’s quest to change the soul of Kenya Sevens

The national sevens rugby team head coach Innocent Simiyu gets a second bite of the cherry and a chance to right the ship after a torrid first year as the head coach.

Speaking at the team’s pre-season training session at the RFUEA grounds, Simiyu cut the image of a man at ease with his challenge and one who has the respect of his charges ahead of what will be a tough and long season.

“It was not all doom and gloom last season. We exposed several young players. I was happy with our expansive game. Into the new season it is time for the foundation we laid last season to now flourish.”

Pundits have questioned whether he is his own man or a merely lackey of the Union. Simiyu may not have the large-than-life personalities of Benjamin Ayimba or Mike Friday but in his unassuming, professorial nature there is steel that shines through.

“Biggest thing I want to do is to improve the Kenyan rugby player. When a player is dropped from Shujaa, he drops in life. If we can improve the player such that they can improve their life for good and also when they stop playing they still contribute to the Kenya sevens eco-system then I shall have achieved something. Player is key. Changing the culture and creating purpose is the way.”

Having covered the team for close to half a decade at close range I was intrigued as to what change in culture meant for the former Impala RFC captain and coach.

“Culture is how Kenya Sevens team behaves, operates and interacts with society. We have to change that. Purpose is who we are and why are we here. If cam get clarity on that then there is sustainability in what we are doing.”

The national sevens rugby team last season struggled in the World Rugby series blowing hot and cold before finishing 12th with a mere 63 points. Many questioned the ability of Simiyu who despite being a top rugby player in his day had little experience as a coach.

“There will always be doubting Thomases. It is life. For us key is to improve the player, play better, develop the game and off course win. Yes, we understand the expectations of Kenyans who want us to win everything.”

In his first season coach Simuyu despite a target of 10 points a leg, only led Shujaa to 2 main cup quarterfinals in the 10 legs of the series. He cited a poor pre-season for the team’s dismal run. This season he has had the luxury of starting early and not spend most of the season firefighting. With 12 players in camp ‘Namcos’ asserts that training has been good and that he has had 100 percent attendance.

“Quite excited. Wish we keep the momentum and energy that we have started with. I have a feeling that things will be very good this season.”

Simiyu only had Team Manager Eric Ong’weno in his technical bench for most of the season after Strength and Conditioning coach Ian Gibbons resigned early on. Ahead of the 2017/2018 season Kenya Rugby Union has promoted performance analyst William Webster to assistant coach and rehired Geoffrey Kimani as the strength and conditioning coach.

“It is reliving. I was quite lonely. It is lovely that we have a full set of management. Kim has hit the ground running. He is in familiar grounds and we are happy to have him back. As for Will, he is good in analysis and this relives the pressure on me to focus on tactics.”

Shujaa have a busy season ahead with the World Sevens Series starting in December in Dubai, the Commonwealth Games in Perth Australia in April 2018 and the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Fransisco USA in July 2018. This means a happy, committed and settled squad is key and areas like contracts, health insurance have to be sorted out early.

“Contracts have been given. The players are to read then sign. The contracts are better and all the benefits are there. It is one of the best packages given. We have improved what we are offering because it is going to be a tough season. The players will tackle 16 tournaments and we require 100 percent commitment so we must compensate them.”

Last season Simiyu fell short of his 10 points per leg goal and this season he has a different outlook in as far as goal-setting.

“As management we shall be player-centric. It is not about us but about the players. Process of goal-setting is bottom up. Players set individual targets, then we set team targets. So they have the developmental forms to fill then we take it from there.”

The national sevens circuit kicked off with the Driftwood leg in Mombasa and will conclude with the Dala Sevens in Kisumu five legs later. The circuit curtain rises for the Safari Sevens which is scheduled to be held in early November while also on paper being a chance for the technical bench to pick new players.

“There is a selection committee of 5 checking out the players in the circuit. We want all the players to show what they have got. We have the core 12 in training then we pick 28 from circuit to make 40 then we whittle down to around 30. Even the 12 have to play a minimum of 2 legs. It is not a surety that they will be in the team, they have to prove themselves. They are on probation.”

For many coaches it is winning that is the bottom-line but for Simiyu there is seemingly a desire to build a legacy that can withstand the test of time at Kenya Sevens. Given that the team has had five coaches in five years ‘Namcos’ will have to deliver results on the pitch to be given time to build the culture that he envisions.

GOD BLESS KENYA!

(transcribed from an interview with Innocent Simiyu on 5th August at RFUEA grounds)

PS: All images courtesy of Google.

Lessons from the Kenya versus Germany Test Match

The Germany national fifteens rugby team won the Test match against Kenya Simbas 29-30 with the last play of the game. A superbly taken drop kick ended coach Jeroome Paarwaters’ long-running winning streak at the RFUEA grounds.

The Road to Japan Rugby World 2019 started with a stumble but that may be a good thing if questions are asked and answers got.

There were a huge number of senior players dropped by the technical bench before the start of the season. The bench stated that they were not up to scratch while word went round that they had being pushed aside for being too vocal about player welfare. What is the truth? Can a middle ground be found?

Of what value was the ten day tour of South Africa? Can a team really get good value from just a ten day trip? There are also reports that a trip to New Zealand is in the pipeline. The ‘bench-marking’ tours are great on paper but their actually tangible benefit on game day is the question. Also, should they be so close to game day such that jet-lag seems to be an issue.

The list of sponsors for the Test Series was quite impressive and every five minutes the announcer earned his pay with a mention of the long list of sponsors: Sportpesa, Tatu City, Safaricom, Tusker, Dasani, etc. The coffers are presumably quite full and it follows that within reason anything the Kenya fifteens team and the technical bench need should be availed. Is that the case? Why then are the fifteens players not on contract like their seven’s counterparts?

Kenya missed out on qualification to the 2015 rugby world cup by just one match. This time round does Kenya Rugby Union have a coherent concrete plan to see Kenya bag the ticket to Japan 2019? For starters a decision has to be made on whether to continue with the players who have worked hard to lift Kenya up in the rankings or to retire them and try qualifying with young blood.

If KRU does have a plan then it is holding it quite close to its chest. However, if I can hazard a guess, it is probably business as usual and hoping for the best. That will certainly not do.

KRU is not the only one that has to step up if Kenya is to play in Japan.

The Simbas had beaten Spain and Portugal with ease in Test matches last year and the Germans who were two slots below in the world rugby rankings were expected to be easy prey.

However, from the onset The Germans seemed to be on the ascendancy with compact defensive play, brilliant forward work at scrum, mauls and line-outs as well as explosive bursts of speed when they spotted a gap. They certainly were the better team overall throughout the match and were good value for the win.

For Kenya, the forwards looked quite sluggish and they totally outplayed and this denied Kenya a platform to build on. As for the backs they were sucked into the contact play and Kenya seemingly lacks a play-maker to switch up the game or to split a defense. It felt over and over like the same play. Either try smash through the middle and when that was stopped by the resolute Germans taking it all the way wide to Jacob Ojee or to Darwin Mukidza to run on the line. It worked twice but it certainly is not enough as the one point loss showed.

The bad news is that the Kenya Simbas are seemingly not yet world cup material. The good news is with the bubble burst so early in the season Kenya can now work at being ready to try qualify for the rugby world cup. A silver lining to the 29-30 loss witnessed by one of the largest crowds RFUEA grounds has hosted.

“Rugby is Ngong Road and Ngong road is rugby” tweeted an avid football fan who had heeded the cry to be part of the Kenya Simba’s pride at RFUEA. Heck, even Jack Oguda, the C.E.O and Frank Okoth, the C.O.O of KPL were in the V.I.P area enjoying the rugby and marveling at the huge fan attendance which Kenyan football can only dream of. Respect to whoever was in charge of the marketing effort, job very well

That Ngong Road is the spiritual home of rugby in Kenya is now beyond doubt and that Kenyans are hungry for a sporting spectacle on a Saturday afternoon is not in question.

However, as has been stated on numerous occasions, the RFUEA grounds need a total makeover.

There needs to be seating stands all round the stadium for the fans as watching rugby while standing is not kosher. Public washrooms need to be build or hired as the ones at the Quins club house are not enough. The changing rooms available may just about pass muster for Eric Shirley games but definitely not for Kenya Cup much less international matches.

Security felt quite blaze and reckon it has to done in a better way given the current realities. Parking was a nightmare and a solution to that has to be thought of and while at it a way not to clog up Ngong Road. The queue to purchase tickets was pretty long and perhaps ticket sales should be moved online and also outsourced. An aside; it was cute seeing Homeboyz RFC players man the ticket booth but it showed a lack of professionalism.

Rugby is as much about the game as the party. Quins was overwhelmed as a party destination as early as 6pm with someone tweeting at 10pm that it was “a mess”. Clearly, therein is an opportunity for event organizers.

With Safari Sevens scheduled to return to RFUEA grounds in November, KRU have a time-bound deadline to beat to fix all these glaring inadequacies at RFUEA.

Lastly, congratulations to KCB who beat Kabras Sugar to lift the Enterprise Cup for a third consecutive season. The final was played at 12pm. It was supposedly the curtain raiser for the Test Match that kicked off at 4pm. Why should a Cup final curtain raise a test match? Felt that this was unfair for the players, the fans and the neutrals. A better scheduling of games should be considered by the Union.

With local fifteens rugby season done and dusted it is now time for speed and thrills in the 6-leg national sevens rugby series. Series kicks off with Mombasa’s Driftwood Sevens on July 22 followed by Nairobi’s Kabereri Sevens on July 29 before taking a break in August for the General Election and resuming in September.

For Kenya Simbas next up is Elgon Cup first leg away to Uganda on June 10 with the return leg signalling the start of the 2017 Africa Cup that has been expanded to six teams: Senegal and Tunisia added to Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya.

Inside the Kenya Anti-Doping Act 2016

The extent to which the Kenya Anti-Doping Act of 2016 which was passed by parliament and signed into law by the President differed from the version approved by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is startling.

Contrary to what the government termed as minor questions by WADA as to the reason for Kenya being declared non-compliant by WADA a total of 24 queries were raised by WADA in regards to the Act in a document that I have seen.

For instance, Section 3 (b) which indicated to whom the act applies to has provisions which narrow the scope of the Act to only focus on athletes instead of ALL sports women and men.

Part VI of the Act that tackled General Provisions and which is at the core of the Act was found to have been severely mutilated. Removed were the parts binding all sports people to the anti-doping rules, the making compliance to anti-doping rules a requirement to participation in sports in Kenya and the requirement for cooperation with Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) by all sportspeople.

WADA also had in issue with Section 26 (k) which terms unlawful stocking, distribution, transporting, selling or dealing in prohibited substances as prohibited activities in the Act. WADA does NOT consider this an anti-doping violation.

WADA is also uncomfortable with the lack of clarity in Section 42 (6) on how anti-doping violations would be handled.

Section 30 (4) which gives powers to an anti-doping compliance officer to arrest, search and detain a suspect for 24 hours was found to take Kenyan anti-doping officials into foray of criminal and prosecution procedures.

WADA took issue with a recommendation in Section 37 (2) that ADAK would annually submit a report to the Cabinet Secretary of Sports. The WADA code is transparent and so it would want public publication of the report and a copy given to WADA.

Section 7 (1) which laid out the functions of ADAK was found to have severely whittled down the functions of ADAK. WADA is for an ADAK that is totally independent.

Section 15 which tackled the conduct, regulation and powers of the ADAK board raised eyebrows with WADA. The board is top-heavy with government officials and political appointees. In the Schedule of the Act WADA once again took exception with the sweeping powers given to the ADAK board.

Section 23 (1) that established the Therapeutic Use Exception Committee was found to be altered from the final version approved by WADA.

Section 24 (2 & 3) that gives guidelines on Therapeutic Use Exception was found to have been modified and clarity lost.

WADA sought clarity in Section 31 (1) on whether the tribunal for dispute resolution would be before or after court process and what the disciplinary procedure would be.

Section 27 (6a) had a surprise reference to the Athlete Testing Programme which WADA sought clarification for as it was not in the definitions.

Section one alone of the bill had 10 comments with WADA questioning the deletion words or changes in phrasing. WADA questions were – Clarify how “prohibited activity” can be defined and why this replaced “anti-doping rule violation? Clarify whether a healthcare practitioner would fall under Athlete Support Personnel or there is a distinction?

The definitions of “national level athlete”, “out-of-competition testing”, “prohibited association”, “trafficking” were changed compared to final version approved by WADA.

All in all quite starling how the government managed to submit a law with SO SO many errors and put at risk the Olympics dreams of all Kenyan sportspeople.

This kind of incompetence needs to be punished by the President.

 

 

Now to salvage the situation, the Kenyan government delegation led by Cabinet Secretary Foreign Affairs Amina Mohammed and the Cabinet Secretary Sports, Arts and Culture Hassan Wario met with World Anti-Doping Agency officials led by WADA Director General David Howman for day long deliberations in Montreal Canada on Tuesday 18th May.

The road map agreed with the government of Kenya and WADA will see adoption of the amendments to the Act, presentation of the amended clauses to parliament followed by presidential assent. Thereafter the amended bill will be presented to WADA where the WADA compliance committee will review and give approval.

While this process is on-going Kenyan athletes will be allowed to participate in international sport and Kenya will have representation at the Rio Olympics.

GOD BLESS KENYA!

 

Of fairy tales coming true

On Sunday 1^st of May 2016 the eyes of many football fans in the world were fixed on Old Trafford to see if Leicester’s fairy tale would reach its climax at the Theater of Dreams.

A win and the 5000/1 underdogs at the start of the season would be crowned EPL champions at the home of the twenty time champions.

I had a front row seat to witness this unlikely spectacle and I was living a fairy tale.

Walking in Manchester on match day was akin to Nairobi on Mashemeji derby day. Fans decked in their club’s colors, singing and chanting. The visiting Leicester fans were the noisier and livelier.

In the tram to Old Trafford, chatted with 50 year old Steve. For 43 years, he had been going to Old Trafford. Began with his dad and never stopped. Tradition inculcated. Steve bleeds Red for Manchester United and his passion is life and death.

Outside the Old Trafford tram station met Denise. A Leicester City season ticket holder who despite living in Dubai had attended all but two home games. She is the embodiment of the Leicester roots that had sprouted the fairy tale that had captured the world’s imagination.

Walking towards Old Trafford with the thousands of fans was like making a pilgrimage. Stalls selling merchandise, open trucks offering fast food and beer on the go, hawkers calling out for their wares, fans singing all made one forgot the freezing rainy weather.

Several searches and into the stadium I went. “This is it! This is it!’ was the mantra I continually chanted under my breath as I searched for my seat.

I could not stop shaking. Perhaps due to the biting cold but mostly due to the overwhelming sense of occasion.

Seeing the teams warm up, seeing at close range the players I had only ever seen on TV so close was exhilarating.

The teams then went back to the changing rooms and I settled back on my seat watching the stadium fill up.

A few minutes before 4 and the teams lined up at the tunnel to walk into the stadium. The atmosphere was electric with 75,275 fans attending the historical match and the noise levels hitting a crescendo.

As the teams began their walk into the stadium, the announcer said “Ladies and Gentleman, Welcome to the Theater of Dreams, Manchester United and Leicester City.”

I screamed. The fan next to me screamed. Everyone screamed. I have never heard so much stadium noise. Words cannot do justice to the atmosphere at Old Trafford. You have to experience it to understand.

Antony Martial’s early goal got me flying off my seat. Wes Morgan’s headed equalizer and the unbridled joy of the 3,000 traveling Leicester fans was a sight to behold. The first 45 minutes flew past breathlessly. In the second half the pace was less frantic but the drama was still as intense. The second 45 minutes were topped off with a red card for Leicester and penalty denied for Manchester United.

The match ended 1-1. An apt result for the player’s endeavors on the pitch and in my mind as a Manchester United fan as well as a Friend of Leicester.

Leicester players walked across the pitch to acknowledge their fans. Manchester United fans gave Leicester players and fans a standing ovation. I marveled at the delightful touching moment of sporting camaraderie.

Outside the stadium, Leicester fans were in great cheer. They may not have bagged the three points to win the title but they had got a point and anything other than a Spurs win the following day and their team would be champions.

So they sung and sung and sung. In praise of coach Claudio Ranieri, in praise of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez.

“We are going on a European tour..European tour..European tour” was chanted repeatedly.

Amidst the boisterous traveling Leicester fans were Kenyans and Burundians. Surprisingly. I talked to them in Kiswahili and they spoke of their over ten years support for Leicester and the delight of seeing them almost be champions of England. One of the Kenyan gentlemen again from Mombasa proudly informed me that he was the barber for Mahrez and showed me pictures to prove it. Fairy tale things.

This is a story about fairytales. Watching the game in person was the furthest thing on my mind when I sat watching Leicester City’s 4-nil win over Swansea on Sunday April 24th.

“Ulloa again. 3-0. Three points seemingly bagged without Vardy. 8 points ahead with 3 games to go. Your move Spurs. #FriendsOfLeicester”

Is what I tweeted after Leonardo Ulloa scored the third goal in that match.

“Next Sunday – Man Utd v Leicester. Teren. Top 4 chase v Title chase. #FriendsOfLeicester tings will be tested :-).”

Was my follow-up tweet.

What I meant was that my decade’s long love and support for Manchester United would be tested by my season long love of at that point runaway league leaders Leicester City.

Manchester United after a topsy-turvy season were somehow still in contention for a top four finish in the English Premier League and a chance to play in Europe. A minor fairy tale given the nature of the season with manager Louis Van Gaal in charge.

However the bigger fairy tale was the almost being relegated to top of the table exploits by Leicester City. A collection of castaways, journeymen, and nobody’s who had somehow not only managed to escape relegation but to everyone’s shock sat atop of the English Premier League.

Imagine my joy when the following day, Monday, I learnt of an opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom to watch the Manchester United versus Leicester City game at the Old Trafford.

But there was a twist to my taste of a fairy tale experience. I needed a UK visa urgently. Tuesday was spent filing and dropping the application while Wednesday and Thursday were spent praying, crossing my fingers and refreshing my email.

An email from the visa processing office on Thursday had me running across town to Westlands to get the results which to my eternal delight were positive. My joy knew no bounds. My fairytale was on track.

Lift off from JKIA was Friday lunchtime. Touchdown in cold and rainy Manchester was Saturday morning.

The tickets availed required dressing up and thus a trip to Primark to suit-up was the first order of business. Three hours, two carry-ons bags and a MacDonald’s detour later I was back in my hotel room.

A quick shower and out I went to navigate Manchester. First port of call was the mecca for many a football fans. Old Trafford. A stadium and museum tour were the goal. Got myself to the tram station after several wrong turns, managed to buy a tram ticket from the automated machine and I was on my way.

Three stops later I alighted at the Old Trafford station. Purposeful strides. Heart beating faster. Mind on overdrive. Imagine my shock when the first signage I saw was Emirates. Did a double take and realized that this was the Manchester Cricket Grounds. Sharp intake of breathe and off I went again. Couple of minutes later and I was at the Sir Matt Busby Way. A motley of fast food joints and a pub aptly named Trafford were begging to be sampled but I had my eyes on the ball.

And then finally there it was. Old Trafford. In its magnificent imperious splendor. The Theater of Dreams. I was in dreamland. Spine tingling. Mouth agape. Hands on my head. Heard myself chant Oh My God repeatedly. Sat on a bench to steady my shaking legs. This was it. This was my fairytale come true.

After halfway composing myself I made my way in. Stewards in the black uniforms and bright yellow reflector coats stood at the entrance standing between me and my goal.

With thousands of fans in Manchester for the historic game to my horror the stadium and museum tour was sold out. I was in shock. So near yet so near. Fairytale was turning to night mare.

As I stood there for who knows how long to catch my bearings a steward brought the news that there was an opening for a 30 minute tour. Oh joy! I jumped on the opportunity faster than Bolt at the Olympics.

Started with the museum tour which was orgasmic. The trophy room is overflowing. The memorabilia from Keane, Cantona, Schmeical, Giggs playing days was a marvel to behold. The video reliving the 1999 UEFA champions’ league final win gave me goose bumps. Seeing the three trophies from the treble year as well as the three jerseys from each of the treble season competitions brought so much pride.

Then was the stadium tour. Walking in and reading the “You are now entering the Theater of Dreams” sign on the wall almost made my heart stop. Short flight of stadium and bathed in glorious sunlight was the stands and pitch.

Standing at the Sir Alex Ferguson stand, facing the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand with the Stretford End on my left. A sea of red folded up seats. The pitch in impeccable condition. Sensory overload as an old gent gave us a speech on the different stands and cracked us up with dry British humor. Time stood still as I absorbed all these then flew as the old gent abruptly announced it was time to leave.

Traced my steps back to the museum and relived the memories. Then finally grudgingly walked out of the stadium.

 

As I sought to say thank you to the stewards who had given my dream life and to ask for directions to the merchandise shop another fairytale experience awaited me.

“Habari yako” asked one of the stewards. Kiswahili at Old Trafford was surreal. “Mzuri,” followed by “Ala, hutoka wapi wewe?” Was my reply once I got over my shock.  “Wewe wafikiri natoka wapi? Huko huko utokako” was the swift reply.

With the ice broken we chatted for 15 minutes. Mohammed from Mombasa left Kenya close to thirty years ago to study in the UK. For 25 years he has worked at Old Trafford in his own words, kutafuta rizik. When I marveled at the fact that he must have seen all the Manchester Legends up close, his reply was simply, wanatalanta…lakini si ni binadamu tu…What was a magical dreamy experience to many was routine day’s work to others. Grounded me.

Different from Kenya where the full buffet of EPL matches is on offer to football fans, in the UK very few pubs show the games. So when I walked into Trafford Pub run by Stacy and Sarah and found the Arsenal Norwich game on-going I pulled a seat and soaked up the British pub experience.

Still walking on cloud nine I made my way back to the hotel with a spring on my step.

The title deciding Chelsea versus Tottenham game would find me 30,000 feet in the air as I traveled back home on Monday night.

Having watched a game at the Old Trafford I now broke new ground. One of my traveling companions streamed the game on the plane and my fairy tale continued as I watched Spurs throw away a 2-nil lead at the break to draw with Chelsea.

Eden Hazard’s beautiful equalizer was met by loud cheers and the final whistle and the ensuing brawl by high fives.

Incredibly Leicester were champions of England.

A fitting end to an incredible UK tour that was the stuff of fairy tales.

GOD BLESS KENYA!

PS: This trip was part of a promotion by gaming platform mCHEZA to reward its customers by giving them fully paid for VIP trips for European live match experiences. Other games lined up for the lucky winners are the UEFA Europa league 2016 finals on May 18th and the UEFA Champions League Finals on May 28th.

Giniwase-chaos?

Sunday, the third of November was the day which had failed to come for many a season. Eighteen seasons if you are keen on counting. To their credit, Gor Mahia players, officials and fans kept the faith, swallowed the heartache and kept believing.

Finally, in 2013, they could say, actually with a couple of games to spare, Giniwasekao (this thing we have taken it) and Ginimarwa (this thing is ours).

Given that the team styles itself as Sirikal (the government), the trophy presentation ceremony was dubbed a state function with a promise of a spectacle worth remembering. There were rumours of suits being measured, limos being hired and conflicting reports as to who between Raila Odinga and President Uhuru would present the trophy.  It was a moment of history in Kenyan football.

I got to town at 1400HRS and Tom Mboya Street was engulfed in a carnival atmosphere. Green and white was everywhere. Fans actually got suits! White with a trim of green or green with a white shirt was the preferred style. Ladies were also not left out with some donning green figure hugging dresses while others went for green and white kikoys.

Unfortunately, what would have been a delight to marvel in was ruined by the sense of entitlement exhibited by some of the the fans. Both vehicular and human traffic was at their mercy as they wailed, chanted and hogged the street. One fan shouted, “Make way for Sirikal and if you have a problem, go to your house.”

By a stroke of luck I got to the road leading to Kasarani just as the convoy of limousines carrying the players made its grand entrance.  It was impressive with the four stretch limos complimented by Mercedes’ and several four-wheel drive cars.

Sadly, what was a great idea was ruined when someone decided to allow the limos onto the stadium track for a celebratory lap of honour. Never mind that there was an ongoing KPL match.  The fans went berserk and stormed the stadium. This lead to numerous injured fans, a damaged ambulance and it was awhile before sanity was restored.

The arrival of Raila Odinga made the fans go wild as did the stadium walk-around by the K’ogalo players who were dressed in suits.

The choice of music was Ohangla and it blared from the mega speakers positioned around the stadium with fans dancing and singing along. Kenyan and American flags blew in the wind as a whiff and at times a cloud of marijuana smoke wafted around the stadium. Flares were lit and the noise levels were phenomenal.

Words fail to do justice to the atmosphere inside Kasarani. Personally have never seen anything like it and I felt as though this was more than just a trophy celebration.

Several images stood out for me:

There was a feeling of defiance and achievement with one placard capturing this by simply declaring: “This is a victory which you cannot steal from us.”

Gor Mahia fans are no slouches in the dressing department but the fan who took the cake was clad in white underwear, long socks and green sports shoes. All through the match he danced – perhaps to keep warm as a light drizzle and a chill engulfed the stadium – while clutching a portrait of prolific striker Dan Sserunkuma. At the end of the match, the fan, still in his underwear went into the middle of the pitch and presented a very surprised Sserunkuma with the portrait.

 

As the Gor players did their lap on honour in the stadium, impeccably dressed in lime green suits, white shirts, dark green ties and black shoes, I spied among them Rama Salim looking lost and forlorn in jeans, tshirt and sneakers. For context, Rama played for Gor in the first leg of the season and he and Sserunkuma had a brilliant partnership. To everyone’s surprise and the club’s dismay, he ditched Gor for Arab money, signing up to an obscure team in the Gulf. Watching him, I wondered whether he regretted his decision.

After a thunderous rendition of the Gor Mahia anthem, the match kicked off. K’ogalo players were clearly overawed by the occasion. Or maybe for them it was just a formality before the trophy was presented. Either way, KCB played delightful one-touch football and took a two nil lead into the break.

On the stands the party continued albeit in a muted tone. The fans were getting restless since KCB were hell-bent on spoiling their party. The entry into the stadium of roughly thirty anti-riot police led to ugly scenes. Apart from horrid verbal abuse, the fans threw plastic water and soda bottles, broken seats, beer cans and even poured water on the cops who exited and stood at the entrance of several gates. It was a shocking display of anti-authority.

Just a few minutes to seven in the evening, the referee blew the whistle and the K’ogalo fraternity was put out of its misery. Despite the two nil loss to KCB, the Okombe (trophy) was Gor’s.

The trophy presentation which was the point of the point of the afternoon was nothing to write home about. The Kenyan Premier League management did make a gallant attempt to put on a show like normally seen abroad. Confetti, fireworks, a winner’s podium, the works but it all seemed rushed and somehow not authentic.

Unfortunately, no sooner had Jerim Onyango lifted the trophy aloft and even before the rest of the Gor Mahia had a chance to hold the hard fought for trophy; shots of teargass rent the air. This was because thousands of fans were invading the pitch overwhelming the thirty or so anti-riot police. Alas, there was to be no orderly celebration.

That for me was my cue to leave.

As I walked out of the stadium in the dark, with thousands of fans making deafening noise around me, I reflected on the afternoon.

There had been glimpses of excellence and even moments of heart-warming expression. However, these were drowned out by excesses of unprofessionalism and hooliganism. Sadly, a fitting metaphor for what is the state of Kenyan football. I also thought of what could be a booming professional football industry in Kenya as opposed to the infrequent current sparks in the dark.

One day, it will happen, I told myself, one day, and hopefully, it would not take 18 years. However, getting to town at around 2100HRS and seeing the mayhem being caused by a section of Gor fans around the Tom Mboya monument, I was not so sure.

There you have it. K’ogalo, the Kenya Premier League Champions 2013. K’Ogalo, the team which is never far from chaos and mayhem.

Good and Bad.

Wonder what comes to the mind of Kenyans when they think K’Ogalo?

GOD BLESS KENYA!

(Images courtesy of Google)

Proudly Kenyan!

I love sports. This past weekend was a brilliant sporting weekend for Kenyan national teams in various categories. I take this opportunity to salute the sportsmen and sportswomen for flying our flag high.

In athletics, the Kenya team to the World Cross Country Championship battled muddy and icy conditions to register wins. I pay tribute to the entire tem and pay special tribute to Japeth Korir who bagged the elusive gold in the 12km senior men’s race. The 19-year old joins a prestigious club of John Ngugi, Paul Teregat, Joseph Ebuya and Kenenisa Bekele. Not a small feat. Hongera!

Japheth Korir – Winner 12km Men’s race

In rugby, the Kenya sevens team was at the Hong Kong Sevens. They emerged fourth in this leg and are placed fifth in the IRB world standings. While I pay tribute to the entire team I wish to pick out two players who stood out for me; Willy ‘Lomu’ Ambaka whose receiving of the ball from kickoffs and amazing runs are a sight to behold and Biko Adema who had an almost 100% conversion record. These are a bunch of armatures who juggle work, school and other commitments in addition to rugby but are mashing it up with the best in the world in their field. They embody the never-say-die-in-your-face Kenyan spirit.  For the joy and occasional heartache that their performance delivers consistently as they journey around the world, I say asante!

Biko Adema

In football, Harambee Stars traveled to Nigeria and secured a draw against the defending African champions. This was after they were accorded shoddy treatment by their hosts. It is worth noting that the Stars were leading from the 35^th minute and the Nigerians equalized in the 94^th minute with the match ending in the 95^th minute. Apart from the shock result, there is the fact that the boys played attractive football; they showed self-belief and the free-kick that delivered the goal was sublime. I pay tribute to the entire Harambee Stars team and pay special tribute to my man-of-the-match Francis Kahata who had the match of his life.  Great job Harambee Stars, keep it up!

Francis Kahata

These men and women are true Kenyan heroes. They give their blood, sweat and tears for the sake of our country and they deserve respect, recognition, and accolades! They also give us priceless joy, pride and bring us together like nothing else does. I salute them. I am proudly Kenyan!

GOD BLESS KENYA!

***All images are courtesy of Google***

Beauty of Concours d’ Elegance

Check out here for more info on  Concours d’ Elegance.

GOD BLESS KENYA!