Weekly Ramble

For some reason, this year, the KRFU elections seem to be a low key affair. For a union that sends out at least 4 media releases a week, I am yet to see one concerning the AGM that is scheduled for tomorrow. Much as an AGM is for the union to highlight it's achievements and its agenda for the coming year, they at times turn to be our typical Kenyan political scenario. Last year's was one of the hottest in recent times when one Mwangi Muthee tried to dethrone the incumbent chairman Richard Omwela. And it turned out to be a real good battle. The thing that still puzzles me, as did last year, what really is there in it?

Last year's posts prior to the AGM were heated and so were the responses. We were called partisan and accused of having an agenda. We were accused of being broke and hiding to throw stones from the bushes. You be the judge yourself. Ours was to point out glaring irregularities in governance and procurement and all that the union does. The KRFU constitution is also clearly a strange one in that it is written to guarantee continuity! What if that continuity is not desired? What if radical surgery is required? Or, on the other side, what if we need uninterrupted continuity? What the strange constitution also ensures is that good continuity can be disrupted. A case in point is that the director who was in charge of the largely successful Sevens squad, has reached the end of his term and must step down! What options remain for him? Is he now a spent force in rugby, his youth notwithstanding? Or does he go for higher office?

As I try to be neutral, I will talk about the higher office. The "owners" of Rugby in Kenya felt, a few years ago, that they needed their own people in office. I do not know if it was to "tame" the Chairman, or to assist him in his goals and in his vision. But first they had other business to deal with. To sort out once and for all what they perceived as the greatest evil bedeviling Rugby in Kenya. To tame one club that was the epitome of impunity. That was the greatest hindrance to the smooth running of the union. The stumbling block to ground development on Ngong Road. And a constant threat to the stability of the union. That they were perfectly placed to do this was not in doubt. Having overseen the collapse of a one time giant club in the country, and from the inside, what easier way to do that than as a protagonist! And so two years were wasted before they realised who the real enemy was.

Fast forward to today and what do they have on their list of achievements that the chairman cannot claim as his own? I wait to see. And for Sasha Mutai, with his impressive and snowy clean track record, has he got a right to challenge for the top seats? An astounding YES from me. And given (without putting down unsubstantiated claims here like Morocco and Tunis) the lack of track record of the incumbents (even the treasurer does not understand simple accounting), does any one else have right to challenge for these seats? Once more a resounding YES. Because sometimes a change is as good as a rest... isn't it!

As a parting shot, I still don't understand what is at stake here. If there is no money in the union and there is no benefit in being a director or an officer, what's the big deal? Why not have a governing body of clubs representatives who among themselves annually select the officers? As per this post of last year, iko kitu and I will find out what.