Vision 2012

The following fixture list for AFC Leopards in 2012, is bound to change from time to time.

Kenya Premier League



11 Feb    v     Chemelil     H      Nyayo 16.00


19 Feb    v     Mat Utd       A      Nyayo 16.00


25 Feb    v     Oserian       H      Nyayo 16.00


04 Mar    v     Ulinzi          A      Afraha 15.00


10 Mar    v     Muhoroni     H      Nyayo 15.00


18 Mar    v     Gor             A      Nyayo 15.00


25 Mar    v     W. Stima     H      Mumias 16.00


31 Mar    v     KCB            A      Nyayo 16.00


06 Apr    v     Rangers       H      Mumias 15.00


15 Apr    v     Thika Utd    A      Thika 15.00


26 Apr    v     Tusker         H      Mombasa 19.00


29 Apr    v     Karuturi      A       Naivasha 15.00


05 May   v     City Stars    A       Nyayo 16.00


12 May   v     Sony Sugar  H       Nyayo 16.00


16 May   v     Sofapaka    A        Nyayo 19.00


24 Jun   v      Sofapaka   H        Nyayo 15.00


07 Jul    v     Sony Sugar A        Awendo 15.00


14 Jul    v      City Stars H         Nyayo 15.00


22 Jul    v      Karuturi   H         Mumias 15.00


12 Aug   v      Tusker     A          Kasarani 16.00


19 Aug   v      Thika Utd H         Nyayo 15.00


26 Aug   v      Rangers    A         Nyayo 15.00


16 Sep   v      KCB         A         Nyayo 15.00


22 Sep   v      W. Stima  A         Bukhungu 15.00


29 Sep   v      Gor Mahia H        Nyayo 15.00


21 Oct   v      Muhoroni   A       TBA 15.00


27 Oct   v      Ulinzi       H        Nyayo 15.00


03 Nov   v     Oserian     A        Oserian 15.00


11 Nov   v     Mat Utd    H        Mumias 15.00


17 Nov   v     Chemelil   A        Green 15.00


Top 8


22 Feb* v TBA * TBA TBA


11 Apr* v TBA * TBA TBA


26 May* v TBA * TBA TBA


Presidents Cup


30 Jun v TBA * TBA TBA


04 Aug v TBA * TBA TBA


01 Sep v TBA * TBA TBA


06 Oct v TBA * TBA TBA


20 Oct v TBA * TBA TBA


Awards


27 Nov KPL Awards


TBA Ingwe Awards

The Kets 2011

It’s the Kets 2011! The complete review of the past Leopards season

Ingwe Fan magazine editor Emmanuel Mketu delivers his end-of-the-year awards in respect of the AFC Leopards season that has just ended. It is a fresher look at ‘The Den’ as we call it and brings up all the good and bad memories of 2011 starting with …

Best Banner

Thankfully the plans to unveil the banner ‘JESUS SATISFIED 5,000 WITH 5 LOAVES AND 2 FISH, JAN KOOPS SATISFIED MILLIONS WITH 11 LEOPARDS” never saw the light as it was deemed too insensitive to the Leopards fans religious sensibilities. These were fans who prayed before each match!

So coming after the fans of traditional arch rivals Gor Mahia had been attacked at Luanda, the “LUANDA DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE” banner was as insensitive as it could get but easily one of the best banners of the season. For that day, the Leopards disciplined Gor on the pitch running away with a 3-0 victory.

Best Actor

Sometimes the in game entertainment can be dull with the loudspeakers simply blaring out some mournful tunes or some circumcision songs. So it was refreshing to see the players join the repertoire of entertainers the best of which was Patriqs Matasi who held the ball and smiled at the fans and waved. The Leopards Facebook Branch made a profile picture out of that one and even Ghost Mulee laughed at the gesture saying he had never seen anything like that in football! That’s is Leopards – giving you what you have never seen!

Best Celebration

Jan Koops. Yes, there may have been those hugs with Bernard Onyango on the touchline for many a goal but the most memorable one was when he started slamming the Nyayo Stadium turf repeatedly after the Leopards scored the third goal against Sofapaka in the return leg. For a coach who had delivered this team from grass to grace, this was a reminder that we wouldn’t hit the grass again for the rest of the season.

Best Promise

When handed the jersey number 50, Jimmy Bagaye allegedly said he would score 50 goals for the Leopards. He scored two in the Premier League and a few against Kenyatta Hospital. It is time to change Mike Baraza’s jersey number to 99.

Biggest Villain

The Sony goalkeeper was a character out of a horror movie when the leopards faced Sony at Nyayo. He went down with the frequency of a Koinange Street girl, and in the end took the match to almost 98 minutes proportions. The ball would be at the Leopards goal and he would go down once again to stop the match though he was a whole 100 yards away. But when the Leopards suffered a last minute goal, he sprang up and ran the length of the field to the leopards D and showed the fans a few cartwheels to the chagrin and utter disgust of the Leopards fans. What an idiot!

Best Opposing Fans

KCB. The whole ZERO of them kept quiet at the home match as the Leopards fans took over and cheered to their hearts fill.

Best Unofficial Merchandise

There was a host to choose from: the makarapas, the Ingwe Limited, the bandanas, the Ingwellets t-shirts, but the very best was the Ingwe Fan magazine. Providing detailed information about the club and especially the full results of the league matches between Leopards and Gor, I took my hats off to the editorial team for that dedication. There were also the benefactors of the project including Geoffrey Luyuku who made sure that the young at heart at least got to know the history of the team in detail.

Best Bet

You can bet with your friends about a Leopards victory but please do not say you will strip to your underwear if a certain player scores… because he will and you will!

Most Creative Headline

There were a number including the one that said ‘Catfights at AFC’ that appeared in the Daily Nation. Or the one by Trevor Mbati saying ‘Zico Is A Coward – Jan Koops!’. However, the one that stole it all was the one that said ‘Until Gor Score’ which appeared in the Standard on the day that Gor were baptized FC 98 after their match had eight added minutes, a red card for the opposing player and a goal.

Best Jersey Name

“LIKHANIAFU” was a hit as was “ESHIOMBO” but in the end we had the jersey that simply said “BA’MPYENGA” 

Best Innovation

The fans at Leopards are known to come up with something new all the time to make the experience at the stadium worth the while. There was the giant flag that was unfurled during the matches. The flag was carried all the way to Mombasa and became the most travelled flag! There was also the Poznan celebration by the fans of the goals. However, the best of them all was simply the chant ‘INGWEE! INGWEE! INGWEE!’. Simplicity is always sometimes the way to go.

Most Ironic Chant

Sometimes, Ironic isn’t as Alanis Morisette thought, but there was the chant that saw Leopards fans sing, ‘Zico Must Go!’ as the Leopards rolled over Gor.  Commentators weren’t sure if they meant his then position at Harambee Stars or whether it was a sympathetic sharing of feelings with Gor fans, but you had a feeling that a few Gor fans joined in on this one.

Best Video

Though the Haka of Injaka was hilarious, the best video hands down came about when Leopards were having a bad run of form. Hitler seemed to join in on the calls for the sack! Absolutely hilarious but at the same time, a few of its predictions came true 

Best Goal

There were a pick of goals that were scored by Leopards players this year that were absolute beauties! There was the goal that Collins Kisuya scored against Tusker when he connected from a great corner routine and smacked in the ball from a near impossible angle, there was also his curling freekick in the comeback against Nairobi City Stars. But the pick of the crop, was hands down a goal that Kisuya played part in but didn’t score it. 

AFC were leading one nil against Gor on 2^nd of October when Kisuya collected a ball that had been carelessly left hanging by a Gor defender, he beat the defender for pace and then released a cross that could only be made by a person of chameleon eyes. It was pin point and breathtaking to watch. As if on intuition, Mike Baraza was between two Gor players but he got the ball and smacked it in beating Ja-Goal all the way! What a goal. It was a goal that made the game safe and ensured Baraza had scored in two consecutive derbies and though he got a yellow card for celebrating before the Gor fans, no one, absolutely no one cared!

Best Match 

One match stood out as the best match this season and that was the game against Mathare United that ended in a two-all draw. The Leopards were down two nil at half time and the game seemed lost for all intents and purposes, if it was the Leopards of the first leg. But there were not just Leopards, these were the troops of Koops! The pulled one back and then scored a leveler. You felt that if there was any more time, they would even have won it. But the match had everything: it had a penalty, it had a goalie howler, it had an own goal and a well worked corner goal. There was despair, the elations and the expectation. For once, you always knew that even when two goals down, we could still win it.

Best Stat

This came courtesy of 89:59 who stated that Leopards was an average of position 8.03 in the league this season. To quote him: As for AFC, your team, their average position is 8.03 and final is 5. That means AFC were confined in mid-table positions for long and their rise to position 5 was aided by a rich vein of form towards the end of the season. One Gor fan retorted: Ufala utaacha!

Best Match Report

Sending a text to someone at the stadium and asking him scores can be frustrating. Sometimes you could get the occasional, ‘EKK’ as your reply. But the best was during the Leopards match against Congo United when brief posts appeared on the Facebook Page with words such as: Barry Red! Matasi Swallows! Mbakaya Off!

Best Quote

Sometimes a loss can be a devasatiting thing to happen to any coach and when the Supersport cameras were rolling and Nick Yakhama was being asked how he felt after the match against Thika United in Mumias, Yakhama was shattered nerves as he said: I am happy that we lost.

If that doesn’t get you fired as a coach, nothing else can. There was also the Pharis Kamau quote in HardBall where he stated: Revenge is no longer a bitch; it is a Leopard!

Best Karma

Whilst Gor suffered the 3-0 humiliation, Leopards fans were busy singing ‘Musiwe kama Gor Mahia, wanaofungwa bao, na wanarusha mawe!’ which basically implored people not to be like Gor fans who threw stones after a goal is scored against them. The same month, the Leopards fans tasted a taste of their medicine as their fans threw stones after Gor scored a goal against them in the FKL Cup. Karma is a bitch.

Best Coach

The best coach is of course, as always, the fans. Any time a player missed a chance the impatient fans would start asking for the substitution of the player and when the player who had just gotten in fluffed a chance, the fans would be beside themselves in laughing.

Best Player

3rd Mike Baraza.

2nd Bernard Mangoli.

1st Jonas Nahimana. Nahimana was phenomenal during the season where he started off by scoring on his debut against Sofapaka. It was a goal that gave Leopards hope though they ultimately lost that match. But his presence on the pitch was assured and he diverted many attacking threats from the opposing players. He also netted a penalty against Chemelil and scored a beautiful goal against Ulinzi. Yes, a defender was in the top three scorers for Leopards! It was fitting that the last kick of the match this season was by Jonas as he tried to curl a freekick against KCB. A player for half a season but a player for all seasons!

Post Match: KCB (A)

Leopards drew 0-0 with KCB in the final match of the season.

Fred Maingi of Supersport reported:-
 
AFC Leopards were held to a barren draw by stubborn Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in another entertaining KPL tie staged at the Nairobi City Stadium.

Following the draw, Leopards finish the season in fifth place on 46 points while KCB end teh season in ninth on 40. 

It was Mike Barasa’ last match before leaving for Malaysia but he was unable to consolidate his scoring prowess. He finished second with 11 goals behind Ulinzi Stars Stephen Waruru who ended with 12. 

AFC Leopards started the match strongly with their strikers led by Barasa, Oscar Kadenge, Francis Chinjili and Charles Okwemba giving KCB defenders hectic moments with goalkeeper Caleb Adola making several acrobatic saves. 

Timothy Olubulu of Kenyanstar reports that Mike Baraza got a farewell gift:-

AFC Leopards striker Mike Barasa was awarded with a hen as a gift from AFC Leopards fans, playing his last match for the team before he departs to Malaysia where he has signed a contract with a top Malaysian club.

The fans awarded Barry as they have come to christen him with the award for helping them rise to fifth position in the league standings and for the six goals he has scored for them

Speaking to Kenyanstar after the match, Barasa expressed his gratitude to the fans adding that he will miss them when he goes to Malaysia.

"I felt really happy and it was an honor for me. I will always treasure AFC fans wherever I go", he told Kenyanstar.

Barasa will travel to Nakuru later in the evening to spend the night with his family before flying out to Malaysia on Sunday evening.

At the same time, AFC Leopards players gave away thheir jerseys to fans after their barren draw with KCB and signed signatures for the supporters. Mike Barasa was whisked away by security after the number of fans overwhelmed him.

AFC Leopards have finished 5th in the league standings bettering their performance last year and coach Jan Koops and the crop of players signed in June have contributed to the success.

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Tusker	30	17	7	6	34	17	17	58
2	Ulinzi Stars	30	16	9	5	38	20	18	57
3	Sofapaka	30	15	7	8	42	23	19	52
4	Gor Mahia	30	12	12	6	27	22	5	48
5	AFC Leopards	30	13	7	10	36	27	9	46
6	Sony Sugar	30	13	5	12	33	33	0	44
7	Rangers	30	11	10	9	33	31	2	43
8	Chemelil Sugar	30	10	11	9	30	27	3	41
9	KCB	30	11	7	12	38	32	6	40
10	Thika United	30	11	6	13	36	39	-3	39
11	Western Stima	30	9	10	11	21	28	-7	37
12	Mathare United	30	7	13	10	32	35	-3	34
13	Karuturi Sports	30	8	10	12	19	28	-9	34
14	City Stars	30	8	7	15	28	34	-6	31
15	Bandari	30	9	4	17	22	39	-17	31
16	Congo United	30	5	5	20	18	52	-34	20

Pre Match: KCB (A)

Leopards end the season with an away match to KCB at City Stadium.

James Wokabi of Supersport predicts a 2-0 victory:-

AFC Leopards will look to end their season on a high when they face KCB at City Stadium.

Ingwe have the longest unbeaten record in the league stretching back to July when they lost 3-1 to Gor Mahia. Since then Jan Koops has masterminded an impressive climb that has seen them win seven and draw five matches pushing their way into the top five with 45 points. 

A win over KCB coupled with a Gor Mahia loss to Sofapaka would actually see them finish ahead of their archrivals- a feat considered near impossible at the halfway stage of the season.

They will have top striker Mike Barasa back from suspension. 

They face a KCB side that has had another up and down season. League leaders or thereabouts for most of the first leg, their second leg has been crazy two wins and nine losses! 

KCB though a good record against Leopards having lost only twice in their last five matches and won the first leg 1-0 and have an eye on a top eight finish. 

Prediction: 0-2

Post Match: Ulinzi (H)

Leopards beat Ulinzi 1-0 courtesy of a second minute goal by Jonas Nahimana.

James Wokabi of Supersport reports:-

AFC Leopards placed a huge dent on Ulinzi Stars’ quest to defend their league title with a gritty 1-0 victory over the soldiers at Nyayo National Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Jonas Nahimana scored the all important goal in the second minute heading home a Charles Okwemba corner to give Leopards the points that saw them climb upto fourth on the log with 45 points. 

Three points behind league leaders Tusker but with two games in hand, the soldiers went into the game looking to close the gap on the brewers but were met by an obdurate Leopards side that simply refused to yield. 

The home side got off to the perfect start as Nahimana found space in the crowded penalty area to nod home Okwemba’s set piece past goalkeeper Jacktone Odhiambo as the Ulinzi defence went to sleep. 

The goal seemed to blow the wind out of Ulinzi’s sails and they were unable to get going for the rest of the half. 

Jimmy Bageya had a great chance to make it 2-0 on 36 minutes after a slick exchange of passes between Francis Chinjili and Salim Khamis created a chance for him but he shot straight at the keeper. 

Ulinzi were much better after the break but were unable to find create clear cut chances. The army men dominated possession but back to walls defending by Ingwe kept them at bay. 

If anything, Leopards had chances to go further ahead with Bageya seeing a well struck freekick saved by Odhiambo on 65 minutes. Seven minutes later, Bernard Mang’oli forced Odhiambo to another vital stop.

Despite late pressure, the soldiers could not find a way past as they succumbed to their second loss in five games. 

Ulinzi next play Chemelil on Saturday in their third last match of the season. 

Futaa reports through Patrick Korir about the blackout that temporarily halted the match:-

The second of a double header tie between AFC Leopards and Ulinzi Stars has had to be stopped temporarily as the lights went out just after nine minutes into the game that kicked off at 1930 hrs on Wednesday 16 November 2011 from the Nyayo National stadium.

The black out lasted 11 minutes causing anxiety to fans attending the game but returned 11 minutes later – at 1950 hrs to allow the game to continue. The game, unless hit by another blackout, is expected to conclude at 2130 hrs, or there about. 

The game kicked off soon after the first game on the day ended with Sofapaka squeezing past Chemelil Sugar 3-2 in a game that kicked off at 1730 hrs.

By the time of the blackout, AFC Leopards led the champs 1-0 courtesy of a first minute goal by defender Jonas Nahimana. 

The scenario of lights out is exactly what the match commissar of the Kenya – Seychelles 2014 World Cup pre-qualifier on Tuesday 15 November feared if the game had kicked off at 1800 hrs instead of 1600hrs under natural light. 

For lack of a functional generator at the stadium, the game had to kick off at its originally scheduled time of 1600 hrs. 

Dennis Machio of MichezoAfrika reports:-

A second minute goal by Jonas Naimana was enough for impressive AFC Leopards to shoot down defending Champions and this seasons Kenyan Premier League contenders Ulinzi Stars. The win lifts Ingwe to an enviable 4th slot on the league standings with 5 points after 29 matches. Gor Mahia is 5th with 44 points but have a match against Rangers on Thursday.

The loss to Ulinzi is disastrous to their title campaign as their chances of getting even with Tusker at the helm of the league table went up in flames. The soldiers however still have an edge since they have played a match less than current leaders Tusker. The result makes the mathematics at the top more interesting and pushes  the title contention to the wire.

The floodlit match on Wednesday had to be stopped temporarily as power went off at Nyayo Stadium but the issue was resolved thus allowing the match to proceed on smoothly. 

With only two minutes played Jonas Naimana headed in a Charles Okwemba corner to burrow in the lone goal of the match and scoop maximum points for a hard working Ingwe.

In the absence of lead striker Mike Baraza, Francis Chinjili and Jimmy Bageya had the duty of leading Ingwe’s firing machines.In the 34th minute the combination between the two almost resulted in a second but Bagaye misfired from close range as Ulinzi tumbled trying to find their footing.

Ulinzi tried a late comeback in the second half with better display than their hosts but it was AFC who almost got the second through Jimmy Bagaye and Bernard Mang’oli though both attempts were stopped by Jacktone Odhiambo in Ulinzi’s posts as Ingwe sneaked into the top territory with maximum points.

Coach Jans Wephukulu was a happy man after the match and chose to focus on celebrating the win rather than his team’s chances as they only have one fixture left to play this season against KCB. One thing is for sure for the Ingwe republicans-They will play in the next season’s Top 8 tournament thanks to the Dutchman's magic.

Supersport has another report on the Dutchman.

AFC Leopards coach Jan Koops said defensive organisation was key to their 1-0 victory over Ulinzi Stars on Wednesday.

Jonas Nahimana scored the winner as the 13 time league champions notched a hard fought win over the soldiers to complete a rare double over the soldiers and derail their title defence march.

“In the team meeting back at the hotel, we discussed about what to do when our opponent had the ball and how to keep our shape because we had the energy to keep up with them.”

“We also attacked with two strikers and tried to play one twos because even though they are a very strong side, Ulinzi do not like to keep the ball,” he added.

He would however not be drawn into whether the win had proved that Leopards will challenge for the title, “Let us first celebrate today, as to what will happen next year, we will wait to see.”

His Ulinzi counterpart Benjamin Nyangweso promised that they would bounce back from the setback.

“In football, you accept the results and today they have won. We still have three matches left and i believe we are still in the title hunt. This is just the way the game goes. Just because you lose today does not mean you can’t win the next game so we still have a chance.

The soldiers have three games to go to the end of the season. They face Chemelil in Nakuru on Saturday before travelling back to Nairobi to take on Sofapaka. Ulinzi will end their campaign with a home fixture against Rangers on November 26.

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Tusker	29	16	7	6	33	17	16	55
2	Ulinzi Stars	29	15	9	5	35	20	15	54
3	Sofapaka	29	15	6	8	42	23	19	51
4	Gor Mahia	29	12	11	6	27	22	5	47
5	AFC Leopards	29	13	6	10	36	27	9	45
6	Rangers	29	11	10	8	33	28	5	43
7	Sony Sugar	29	12	5	12	30	32	-2	41
8	Chemelil Sugar	29	10	10	9	30	27	3	40
9	KCB	29	11	6	12	38	32	6	39
10	Thika United	29	11	5	13	35	38	-3	38
11	Western Stima	29	9	9	11	20	27	-7	36
12	Mathare United	29	7	13	9	31	32	-1	34
13	Karuturi Sports	29	8	10	11	18	24	-6	34
14	Bandari	29	9	3	17	22	39	-17	30
15	City Stars	29	7	7	15	24	33	-9	28
16	Congo United	29	5	5	19	18	51	-33	20

Pre Match: Ulinzi (H)

After the Harambee Stars heroics, the Standard introduces the penultimate round against Ulinzi:-

KPL champions Ulinzi Stars coach Benjamin Nyangweso is wary of AFC Leopards’ threat ahead of their crucial midweek clash this evening at the Nyayo National Stadium.

The Ulinzi-Leopards match will be the second action of the day, on a day when local football enthusiasts will be treated to a double header, the first fixture being a crunch tie between 2009 champions Sofapaka and giant killers Chemelil Sugar from 5:30pm.

The soldiers are second in the table but only three points shy of leaders Tusker and with four matches to go, having two matches in hand and Nyangweso is well aware of the importance of today’s match. He will be seeking to hand Dutch coach Jaan Koops his second league defeat since he joined Leopards, a feat Nyangweso believes would not be easy.

Leopards have not been beaten in their last 11 league matches, their last league loss being a 3-1 loss to arch rivals Gor Mahia on July 24 and will be keen to spoil the party for Ulinzi.

"Leopards have been enjoying a good run in their league campaign and I am sure they will not give us an easy time. They beat us 1-0 in the first leg in Nakuru and they have improved a lot since then. I can say they have a better side than the one that beat us in the first leg so we expect a tough match," said Nyangweso.

He added: "In the first leg we created very many chances but failed to convert them, while they only had a single chance and capitalised on it. Their goalkeeper Barnabas Tiema was in world-class form in our first leg meeting and thwarted all our attempts, but we learned from our mistakes and we will go for early goals."

Leopards’ team manager Bernard Onyango said the team was in a fine form and promised fans of a thrilling clash. "The players have been showing a lot of commitment in training and they are keen to win the remaining fixtures to end the season on a high. We will only be missing the services of our top striker Mike Barasa who was sent off in our 4-0 win over Congo United, but I believe we have worthy replacements."

Burly striker Francis Chinjili is said to have postponed celebrations of his birthday, from on Tuesday, as he plans to celebrate it today with a win against the champions. Leopards are sixth on the table with 42 points.

Some Gracious Miracle?

It is that season again at our beloved team AFC Leopards  Sports Club when schemes and counter schemes characterize the behind the scenes moves for the control of the club.

Ingwe Fan is usually neutral to such schemes and usually tells it as it is without seeking to push the agenda for anyone. That is what keeps this blog going. The knowledge that each Fan at our team has a say in the workings of the team.

Now for a quick recap.

Earlier in the year, there were chaotic scenes witnessed as the club went through elections and more elections coupled with court actions from left right and centre. The regime of Julius Ochiel was meant to have elections in December 2010 but instead, the then Secretary General, Robert Asembo was suspended and replaced by Catherine Omanyo. Asembo nonetheless went ahead to call elections.

Ochiel went to court to stop the Annual General Meeting and elections called by his suspended Sec Gen. Ochiel got a temporary order that stopped the elections and in January the court gave its ruling in the matter. And the court dismissed the Ochiel case which made Asembo call elections immediately. 

These elections descended into a farce as both Winstone Kituyi and Alex Ole Magelo claimed victory. Ochiel had stayed out of these elections.

Amanyo then called other elections which were to be attended by Ochiel this time.

Mumias Sugar then came in as the sponsor and asked the parties to sort out the mess and have all inclusive elections. An electoral board chaired by Gordon Oluoch was constituted and in its attempts to hold elections, it failed when the elections were marred by violence and disruption of voting. 

Oluoch sought the views of the Registrar General on who would now lead the club as the Annual General Meeting that had preceded the aborted elections had ‘dissolved’ the Ochiel administration.

 

The Registrar General initially okayed an interim body to run the club and call for elections but seemed to dither later when confronted by some Football Kenya rules that were seemingly forbidding interim officials to run the club. The club was groping in the dark, to quote the headline of this blog back then!

The plea that the persons who were interested in the positions at the club should be motivated by adoration for club (AFC) was seemingly not heeded that shameful day when violence hit the elections. 

You could read about the moments of confusion here.

In the end, a snap election was held which was attended only by Magelo who won unopposed in rather controversial circumstances.

Some fans allied to the Ochiel group went to court challenging this election and had to wait until October for the ruling to be delivered! The court stated that it was not in the interest of the club to interfere with the current position of the officials. You can read the whole ruling here

Other intricacies had taken place. Josphert Bukachi, the Secretary General to Magelo had been suspended or resigned (it wasn’t clear which!) and some other officials had also stepped aside (being Antony Walela and Geoffrey Mulanya). In fact, in some twist of irony, by the time the ruling above was being delivered, Mulanya’s law firm was acting for the Club defending the regime of Magelo in the case though he himself had before the ruling seemingly differed with Magelo!

With the case having gone in Magelo’s favour, he moved to consolidate control with the confidence of the court’s approval of his regime by moving to amend the constitution.

The process started was accelerated and a Special General Meeting was called for 13^th November 2011 whose sole agenda was to move the motions for the adoption of the new constitution.

But just like last year, the suspended Secretary General rushed to issue a notice for an Annual General Meeting that was set for 27^th November 2011. 

The Registrar was at sixes and sevens having approved this notice for the AGM only to retract it the following day when confronted with reports of the suspension. 

It seems that the Leopards never changes its spots or learns for the mistakes of previous years!

In late 2009, a similar incident had occurred with the suspended Secretary General Micah Luvutse calling an Annual General Meeting that ushered in Ochiel to the chagrin of the person who thought he was the acting Secretary General at that time Richard Ekhalie.

So here we are folks, going through a third successive year with an ‘Acting Secretary General’ at the club.

A summary of some of the key provisions that are being introduced in our club is as follows:-

•    Membership categories will be changed from ordinary and life to ordinary and super.

•    Membership fees will be increased to Kshs. 1,200 per year for ordinary members and Kshs. 12,000 for super members.

•    Members seeking elective posts will have to pay application fees to the club with those seeking Chairmanship paying half a million shillings, Secretary General and Treasurer paying two hundred thousand shillings amongst others.

•    Creation of the post of Chief Executive Officer

•    Explicitly creates branch network

•    Explicitly creates an Electoral Board made up of nominees from the top 5 branches

From the above, one would have thought that with these recurring problems, the club would have looked at the root cause of why we are always having a Secretary General who clashes with the Chairman. Instead, this doesn’t seem to have been quite addressed in the proposed constitution. It would have made sense if the proposed Constitution had set out to make Leopards a really stable club that doesn’t have conflicts within its Executive Committee.

One suggestion that Ingwe Fan has come across, is the one that has been adopted by the ruling soccer body in the country, Football Kenya federation who decided to do away with the position of the Secretary General in its National Executive Committee. This has left just the Chairman, the Vice Chair and eight Executive Committee members.

Perhaps Leopards should also have gone that way to have a Chairman, a Vice Chairman and eight Executive Committee members together with a Chief Executive Officer so that the Executive Committee is composed on eleven members. That would eliminate the conflicts between a Secretary General and the Chairman or the CEO.

One would have wished that a legal representative of the club would have spearheaded the process, but perhaps in order to save on funds, the club deemed it otherwise and let the consultant and ‘branches’ as loosely defined currently to come up with the document.

Having said that, it has been argued before that the current constitution was not being followed by the successive regimes. The proposed constitution has retained most provisions that were there in the old constitution which were not being followed! This include:-

•    Appointment of an auditor at each Annual General Meeting

•    Appointment of the three Trustees of the Club

•    Availability of books of account and members register for inspection

Some of the shocking revelations that have been divulged by former EC members about the way the club was being run give one the impression that the saying that the club is being run like a village team or worse is not far from the truth!

The proposed constitution for instance states that an SGM has to be called with notice in the daily newspapers! It was not lost on observers that whereas the ‘suspended’ Secretary General could place an advert in a leading newspaper, the club itself could not place an advert in the newspaper for the SGM preferring to do everything only by its website.

Issues such as the procedure for calling for meetings have to be practiced whether the proposed constitution is adopted or not. The spirit of the constitution needs to be enforced. Constitutionalism which has been lacking at the club needs to be adopted.

It has already raised some eyebrows the way the SGM was called with some persons wondering whether there was a rush or whether the club is putting the cart before the horse. What is clear though is that if the ‘members’ who attend will vote for the ratification of the constitution, the club will need to adopt a new members register an those ‘members’ who will have voted will need to pay a sum of Kshs. 1,200 to be new members of the club.

We wish the club the best at the Special General Meeting and may the good intentions win rather than the self driven intentions. May the spirit of constitutionalism be inculcated in the ‘members’ and in those who run our club so that we stop this charade once and for all!

If not, we shall continue with the needless wrangling which will hinder the progress of the club. Hopefully the SGM tomorrow lives up to its billing and ‘some gracious miracle’ (SGM) visits the hearts of those who think the club is an arena to play political games.

God bless AFC Leopards Sports Club!