RUGBY ALWAYS GETS SHAGGED "RAW"

Julie Gichuru was host/moderator for an Indian guru who visited and held what appears to be a public event, in a video that has gone viral on social media. The guru describes the thousands of tea-shops that can be found all around India, all of which have tea-boys (the largely illiterate, blue collar workers who make and serve the tea in these tea-shops). The guru describes a phenomenon where the tea-boys like to engage the customers in conversation, about anything and everything. For example, these lowly tea-boys even know how the role of Indian Prime Minister should be carried out, and find a lot of fault with how the current office-holder carries out his duties. The tea-boys also know a lot of cricket (hehehe), they know “the batting technique” and especially how cricket star (Sachin) Tendulkar should bat… The only problem, concludes the guru, these tea-boys don’t really know how to make good tea! And so too it is with Kenyan Rugby where anyone who has ever been a player or coach, loudly and belligerently likes to impose his or her ideas on current office-holders. In fact, at club level, especially where sponsorship is scarce, when these loud-mouths are often invited to take up leadership positions in those clubs, they quietly disappear until that conversation changes. Immediately sponsorship for the club is signed, they find their loud and obnoxious voices. During the last 3 years too, there have been coups and caretaker committees in at least 5 known and well established clubs, least being giants Kenya Harlequins and lately Mombasa Sports Club. In one case, some years ago, a rogue Nairobi-based club official attempted a hostile takeover of the leadership of Kitale Rugby Club by drawing the club in through the pretext of sponsorship extension. When the Kitale Rugby Club leadership realized the real intention, they raised the alarm and in the ensuing intervention through mediation, it was discovered just how convoluted the actual plot really was. Another person pointed out to us that the same thing seems to be happening right now, with a candidate for a top leadership position in the KRU, getting plenty of TV, Radio and Print airtime (even more than sponsors and players during the season) where he liberally bashes the institution and office-bearers. Shockingly, he uses unflattering adjectives and nouns to describe his (probable) colleagues and the institution he hopes to lead. Watching and listening closely to him are the same corporates that he would hope to approach and convince to invest in the organization (because obviously, no one invest in the individual). This is the classic case of swallowing a poison pill and hoping that it kills the other person. Nothing sets the Rugby family apart from all other sports bodies, than its propensity for self-harm, much like someone depressed and with suicidal tendencies. We recently highlighted how Rugby lost out a massive sponsorship to Golf from Brand Kenya cum Ministry of Tourism. We have often asked ourselves, do other Sports bodies have major disagreements? Do Golf, Football, Hockey, Basketball. Swimming and others always agree? Somehow, we seriously doubt it! The only difference is that they argue and fight maturely, many probably sue each other in court or the Sports Tribunal, but they understand the sanctity of the body they represent. Sponsors in Kenya normally operate in very hostile environments under ordinary circumstance and they have to maneuver through some of the most rocky business terrains, to remain profitable. It therefore takes a lot of bad faith and open hostility to scare away a sponsor from a sports organization. The only REAL reason that a sponsor would depart, is if he was not getting value for his sponsorship or a return on investment. And that is what the Kenya 7s team did in Paris 2018 when they blanked out the “MAKE IT KENYA” brand on the front of the shirt because of a delay of Ksh. 100,000/- bonus from the same sponsor. How then, can anyone sane expect the continued employment of these players? Would such an act be condoned in the private sector? What would happen to the culprits of such a brazen and stupid act? It is this loss of value that caused Tourism CS Najib Balala to throw a fit and justifiably so. The decision to place the “make it kenya” branding specifically on the Kenya 7s jerseys during London and Paris legs of the World Series was likely a well thought out and calculated plan, in-keeping with a certain strategy. What the imbeciles supporting the players action want to shield from other Kenyans, is that the strategy would have had a multiplier effect on the entire tourism and conferencing plan for the ENTIRE COUNTRY. Chances are high that hundreds of thousands of Kenyans employed in this sector would be negatively affected by the action of the team. It is also likely that some of the parents, siblings, relatives and close friends of the team members are direct beneficiaries (as direct employees in the airlines, hotel, tourism, transport, parks and the general supply of goods and services to the sector) and an upsurge in tourist numbers would equally have boosted their businesses. The action by the players in Paris really undermined the bottom line for many thousands of Kenyans and the reputation of the country as a tourist destination. Just because there was a delay in getting Ksh. 100,000/- They really shagged Kenya and its people RAW! Somehow I personally worry that these fuck-tards would be allowed to sire children… and this where they all belong www.darwinawards.com ECHESA – GOOD RIDDANCE Finally, the curtain has come down on arguably the most useless Sports Minister in recent times, with the sacking of Rashid Echesa last week. Echesa made up half of a grossly underperforming duo with PS Kirimi Kaberia both of whom came into their positions hot on the heels of another disastrous pair of CS Hassan Wario and PS Richard Ekai. Wario and Ekai have yet to take up Ambassadorial positions in Austria and Russia respectively after they were charged with criminal culpability over the massive loss of funds and associated fallout at the Rio Olympic games of 2016. Sports Ministry seems to be the place where politicians honor their election promises by dumping the least qualified people, and it is evident to all. While Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto would like us to feel a swell of pride every time one of our wins at International Athletic meets or Olympics, the fact of the matter is that those achievements are driven 100% by the dedication, sacrifice and effort of individual athletes. Ironically, during the doling out of National honors on National days, athletes have been eclipsed by clowns and bloggers (or are the two terms interchangeable?) with the shocking awards going to the likes of Githeri Man and weirdos like Robert Alai and Dennis Itumbi…All of whom got Head of State commendation, which completely obliterated any respect there was for these awards. Does Kenya take its Sportspeople seriously? NO! We saw this clearly when this Government unilaterally hammered the betting companies with an increase in tax from 15% to 35% overnight. These betting companies issued a notice to Government that they would withdraw from sponsorships if this decision was not rescinded. All Kenyans knew that this was just a way for the thugs in Government to shakedown these companies for some personally money, when they realized how much the companies were generating. In the months following the notice given by a consortium of betting companies for withdrawal from good causes, Sports Federations came together to lobby the Government through the Sports Ministry, to review this massive tax penalty so that the sponsored programs would not collapse. When the Government refused to budge, the betting companies withdrew some of their sponsorships, led by market leader – SPORTPESA. In response to the withdrawal by Sportpesa of some critical programs, Sports PS Kirimi Kaberia stood up in media and quite arrogantly told Kenyans that there would NEVER be funding gap, because they (Government) would step in to fund these programs. The programs most affected by the withdrawal were the National teams for FOOTBALL and RUGBY, which each lost approximately between Ksh. 120 million and Ksh. 150 million per year. By the end of 2018, there was distress in both of these Federations with National Football teams Head Coach Sebastien Migne threatening to resign if his (and his assistants) salary arrears were not cleared by 20th December 2018. In Rugby, the KRU had to settle for a local coach for the Kenya 7s team despite conducting interviews and shortlisting at least 5 foreign coaches, simply because they couldn’t guarantee the salaries. Players also had to be offered reduced contracts, which led to mass walkout by the senior players, who were demanding unsustainable salaries. Why would Government (through the Sports Ministry) mislead Kenyans that it would comfortably step into the breach created by the departure of Sportpesa for its 2 largest National team sports events, then completely renege on this promise? Why must the sports federations resort to blackmail by calling media to threaten pullout from events or even the Kenya 7s players staging mass withdrawals, before the Government relents (in some cases) releases funding? And this is where this Sports Ministry has questionable decision-making… Last week, former Sports CS Rashid Echesa summoned the officials of a local football club – the badly managed AFC Leopards – to his office to discuss the real possibility of the club being relegated from the Premier League Echesa promised financial bailouts and other such support to this team, whose traditional support base is his (Echesa’s) Luhya community of Western Kenya. AFC Leopards is currently sponsored by the same SPORTPESA to the tune of Ksh. 55 million per year, but currently remains rooted at the bottom of the log, despite already going through 3 foreign coaches, even before the football mid-season. Remember too, that AFC Leopards also gets several million shillings per year from the SPORTPESA sponsorship of the Premier League. So, why turn the focus of an entire country onto an obviously well-funded, clearly well-looted single club entity, promising them a bailout using taxpayer’s money? Similarly, within the same time, PS Kaberia announced to Kenyans (and the World) that the Government (through the Sports Ministry) would fund the preparations for the National football team – Harambee Stars – for their Africa Cup, to the tune of Ksh. 250 million. The team is expected to camp in France for a month in the lead-up to the continental event. This is the same Government that REFUSED to fund the Kenya Rugby 15s team for the REPECHAGE qualification PLAY-OFF round in that same FRANCE last November. A win would have ensured Kenya’s first ever qualification to the Rugby World Cup. The Rugby teams’ preparations were so inadequate, and occasioned by constant player sit-ins that the team lost all 3 matches haplessly in France. At one point in the lead-up to the Repechage play-offs, even the New Zealand coaching duo of Ian Snook and Murray Roulston threw a fit during a press conference to lament lack of salary. Eventually, both had to be let go, as it was impossible to raise their salaries due to the dithering of Government. Last week, when Sports PS Kaberia was asked by media about the real prospect of Kenya 7s being relegated from “core” status this season, he said a couple of shocking things. First that the very responsible Government of Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta would NEVER allow the Kenya 7s team be relegated. Second, that Government already had a budget ready to assist Rugby 7s team but that this money will only be accessed after the KRU elections of 20th March, when a new executive has taken office!! By implication, PS Kaberia was telling us the money Government has set aside for the Kenya 7s Rugby team was never for preparation & salaries for the team, rather it’s to fund the team avoid relegation. This warped reasoning is common in Kenya, for instance, when DP Wiliam Ruto visits the National football team and promises the players Ksh. 50 million reward for qualification, yet his Government doesn’t spend even a kopek on the teams preparations. Isn’t the Government setting up National teams to fail intentionally? But more diabolically is the PSs assertion that there MUST be a new executive in charge at the KRU before the funds (taxpayers money) is released to facilitate a National team. We wonder, what is the interest of this Sports Ministry in the upcoming KRU elections that it would insist on further delaying promised funding to National teams? Does the Sports Ministry have preferred candidates, especially those who would “deal” in the old-fashioned Kenyan way with these funds? Does the Sports Ministry think we are buffoons to buy the line that quarter of a billion shillings will be spent in a month in France by the National football team? Does the Ministry actually believe that relegation will stand by and wait for a convenient time? Does PS Kaberia know that after the Las Vegas leg this weekend, there will only be 5 legs of the circuit remaining..? Sports performance is not like a vehicle that has run out of fuel, into which you simply add petrol from a jerrican, and it starts immediately. You don’t pump in money today and expect performance tomorrow! That is why DP Ruto and his 50 million pledge (which will most likely never see the light of day) did nothing for the football team, and instead Kenya was lucky that opponents Sierra Leone were removed from the competition. Time has come for parity to be restored at the Sports Ministry now that Rashid Echesa has departed. The tribal bigotry occasioned by this support of AFC Leopards while the Kenya 7s National team is completely ignored MUST end now. We call upon new CS Amina Mohammed, a brilliant woman who is now being misused by her appointing authority, to review how these decisions for support teams are arrived at, and to rein in this errant PS!