Raila castigates Gor Mahia for endless begging and shoddy planning of CAF matches

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Sunday evening issued an open indictment at egregious Gor Mahia management following endless blunders during their continental assignments.

Odinga, synonymous with proverbial proclamations in his long and eventful political career, clothed his charge against K’Ogalo management in a congratulatory message tweeted after the club trumped their local rivals AFC Leopards to book a place in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Gor Mahia have earned a very undesirable reputation around the continent for always bungling travel plans for their away matches in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup.

So poor has the club’s management of travel logistics been that they arrived in Zambia one hour to kick-off for a crucial return leg tie of Confederation Cup group stage clincher against NAPSA Stars earlier this year.

K’Ogalo were duly dumped out of the competition courtesy of a stoppage time penalty. The team has made it a norm, jetting in late for their away fixtures, and clearly Odinga, who is club patron is not amused.

Gor Mahia famously eliminated South African outfit Supersport United from the Confederation Cup in April 2018 having arrived in South Africa the same day due to chaotic planning. Leading 1-0 from Nairobi, K’Ogalo battled to a 2-1 loss in South Africa and progressed courtesy of away goals rule.

They did not have as much luck when they traveled to Morocco a year later to play Berkane as they soaked in five goals and crashed out on a 7-1 aggregate score.

The Kenyan club arrived in Morocco the same day, landing in Casablanca then making an eight-hour road trip to Berkane for the game. The players had two hours to cool off before taking to the pitch and the score line reflected their condition.

Countless times the club has rushed to Odinga for bailouts when they are unable to honour their international away fixtures.

Ousted Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has also on several occasions purchased tickets to K’Ogalo when the management is stranded.

Besides their chaotic travels, Gor Mahia have also struggled to pay player salaries despite having a shirt sponsor and playing in a league with a broadcast sponsor.

The club is playing catchup with wages this year and financing their travels for Confederation Cup will be a tall order.

Odinga’s tweet is a caution to the management comprising celebrated lawyer Ambrose Rachier, Dolphina Odhiambo and Sam Ochola.

K’Ogalo last week launched a drive to raise Ksh200 million to jumpstart their journey towards self-reliance. The initiative has elicited mixed reactions as critics point at the club’s lack of transparency.