This archive report was first published on 23 December 2019.
December 23, 2019
AFC Leopards, a senior community club in Kenya, is facing financial difficulties, with salary arrears owed to players and technical bench members.
Former organizing secretary Timothy Lilumbi has questioned the government's decision to donate Sh8 million to champions Gor Mahia while 'ignoring' AFC Leopards.
'We (Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards) are the senior community clubs in the country. How can you help our friends Gor Mahia to ease their problems yet you overlook AFC (Leopards) yet we had also approached the government through the then sports cabinet secretary Echesa (Rashid) and PS Kirimi Kaberia when we were in office?' Lilumbi posed.
He has asked Luhya leaders from across the political divide to move with haste to prevent the club from sinking further.
'I would like to ask our able leaders from western region to hurriedly come to the rescue of Leopards which is the pride of Luhyia community,' he reckoned.
Both clubs have witnessed exit of foreign players citing lack of salary payment, with Leopards perhaps the hardest hit.
Their head coach Rwandan Casa Mbungo early last week wrote to the club executive giving them a 15-day notice to settle his salary arrears failure to which he quit.
Ingwe and K'Ogalo were enjoying a lucrative sponsorship from a gaming firm but the rosy spell ended when the firm halted its operations in the country following along-drawn battle with the government over taxation laws.
