Gor Mahia launches MPESA initiative to raise funds
courtesy of goal.com
With KRA breathing on their neck demanding Sh118m in tax arrears, K’ogalo have launched an Mpesa number to help raise funds to run club activities
Kenya Premier League champions Gor Mahia have for the first time admitted that they are running bankrupt and want fans to help raise funds to bail out the team.
Club chairman Ambrose Rachier on Thursday sounded an alarm over K’Ogalo’s financial fortunes in the wake of a Sh118 million tax demand. In the process, Gor Mahia have launched an Mpesa number 350100 as they turn to their fans for help.
In an interview with Goal, Rachier admits that unless fans come to their aid, the club may ground to a halt. “We need Sh4.5million every month to run the club. We do not have a sponsor and the tax man has closed all taps where we can get money.
“Things are becoming difficult for us and as it stands we might not be able to pay players’ salaries unless someone comes to our aid. We don’t have a sponsor and those we are talking to have not committed yet.
“We have been struggling to pay players’ with in-house fundraising but it will definitely become tough for us. It is the reason we have come up with this Mpesa number to ask our fans to chip in the small amount they have to help us keep the club afloat.”
The financial woes just come a few weeks after Brookside Dairies through their brand Tuzo refused to renew their three year sponsorship package that dates back to 2011.
“I cannot say that we are cash strapped, but we do not have money to run our activities. KRA has served all our sources of income with the demand letter and we cannot get money. We went to Brookside to collect salary arrears for March but they told us they cannot release any money because of the letter.”
Rachier says they have initiated talks with Kenya Revenue Authority to resolve the tax stand-off but he objected to the figure. “We are wondering why it is only Gor Mahia who are being targeted. At the moment we are seeking advice from experts to determine the best way to deal with this situation.”
Below is the list of KRA defaulters:
Gor Mahia………………Sh118,455,376.75
Chemelil Sugar …….Sh321,000.00
Tusker ………………….Sh78,000.00
Sofapaka …………….Sh12,311.00
KRA ………………………Sh0.000
Thika United………….Sh.0.000
Sony Sugar ………….Sh145,998.00
Western Stima ……..Sh189, 007.00
Muhoroni Youth………Sh1, 016.00
Bandari ………………..Sh34, 990.00
AFC Leopards………..Sh-177, 997.00
City Stars ………..…..Sh4, 577.90
Ulinzi Stars …………..Sh0.00
Mathare United…….…Sh23, 673.00
KCB ………………….….Sh-1,900.65
Nakuru Top Fry…….…..Sh35, 899.00
How did Gor Mahia end up owing Ksh 118 million ?
RACHIER PLIZ WE R WILLING TO BUILD THE MIGHTY GOR MAHIA. OF EAST AFRICA.IT IS OUR TEAM. HOWEVER, LET US BE ORGANISED AND COORDINATED.WHAT HAPPENED TO GOR. MAHIA FANS FOUNDATION.WHY CAN”T THE SENIOR TEAM AND THE YOUTH TEAM BE UNDER ONE SUPPORTER ONE BODY….GOR MAHIA FANS FOUNDATION?
Our slogan should be 1 million fans at Kshs. 100 bob each which will give us Kshs 100 million, making the club the second richest club in sub Saharan Africa.
Here is the breakdown of the KRA money….
1. Kshs 45 million is owed for failure to remit players taxes on salaries. This also include players who left the club and existing players.
2. Kshs 25 million is owed for failure to remit taxes on players allowances, match winning bonus and championship prize money .
3. Kshs 30 million is owed for failure to remit taxes on club merchandise that was sold ” commercially” by the club and we’re not declared to the taxman.
4. Close to Kshs 18 million owed as interest and penalties on the amount outstanding.
I think the issue dates back as far as back as 2010! Hopefully we share arrive at a figure to settle the taxman amicably and not violent confrontations !
I can see most people here agree taxes must be paid!
A lot have been said before about running the club in a professional way.
I would have wished we view the truth soberly than rushing to side shows. Remember ignorance of law is no defense.
I also don’t think AR will be chair for the rest of our lives and will be replaced somehow by someone.
The tax issue could have been avoided or sorted out quietly without hot reactions in the media had AR attempted to professionalize management of the club even for three years of the six years he has been the chair.
But anyway abuses and labellings will not help GM out of this, humility and negotiations will.
I am not ashamed to mention that even the likes of Dr. Adede could still be approached to help GM secure sponsorship and/finances, Gor Mahia the man after whom the club was named (Gor Mahia the grandchild of Ogalo) is not father to us hence we can not exclude anyone in its building.
In most cases figures are computed from audited accounts read at the AGMs, or in depth audit by KRA, making it difficult to run away from the bill.
Now that the Mpesa Number is out can someone educate people on how to contribute through this platform
Those numbers Jakoyo posted do not add up. If Gor mahia’s wage bill is 2.6 million per month. Then in one year they pay Ksh 31.2 million in salaries. Therefore the annual tax bill should be approx 10 million. And now consider that in previous years the wage bill was even lower.
With regard to taxes on jersey sales, my understanding is that Gor Mahia made no money from jersey sales. All the money went to Ruzo or Legea. Rachier recently said so. Was he not telling the truth ?
Finally, by the societies act, Gor Mahia should not be paying taxes on merchandize sales especially since the income is far below the expenses.
Hiyo haieleweki. I am still not clear on why other teams owe much less. Is Gor Mahia the only team that does not remit taxes on player salaries ? I doubt it.
I think there are sinister motives by some people.
we need to contribute this money kesho yangu natoa pap! we want to genuine fans now
How to contribute..go to mpesa.paybill 350100..acnt number..self.lets contribute!
we are very willing to contribute but what assurance does the EC give us the money won’t be squandered if up till this time they have not succeeded in addressing the issue of fake tickets for our home matches hence a very big revenue leakage.over to you chairman!!!
chairman u shud tell us the truth abt this issue.
@cafootball u r too negative.jokanyanam let us build our club.let us contribute as we reform and restructure our team.i am looking forward to seeing the birth of our sports club having hockey basketball rugby football among others
tom ochieng@14
kwani you dont know who football is??same person who blundered right here by giving same views through 2 different email ads
best ignore such low life idle …..!!!
seek info from more serious bloggers ……not low life idlers like this guy!!!!
The idea of a paybill number, though belated is most welcome. Couldn’t we have foreseen the Tuzo issue and started this grand idea Months well ahead of time.
I have made my contribution of 5k and will contribute more next week. Transparency and accountability should thereafter be observed.
Guys,I believe we are call willing to contribute and help our Mighty Kogalo. My only worry is,What assurance do we have that this money will go into the intended purpose and not some people,s pockets?
Lets have some structures in place to take care of the contributions coming in like possibly a banl account whose signatories are not any members of the EC. This is simply because I realize most members do not trust EC when it comes to handling finances.
Thats my view,now let the money start rolling in coz we can not let such a mighty team go under!
I just contributed 100 shs to test…though I didnt have an account number, I put in 123 and the message back was 100 sent to ‘Gor Mahia..’.please confirm this is correct so that we start contributing larger amounts
Could EC quickly confirm that they’ve held negotiations with KRA to avoid this mpesa account being blocked as well! !!
CONTRIBUTION IS ONE THING DEMANDING FOR TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IS ANOTHER.LET US CONTRIBUTE AS WE DEMAND FOR ACCOUNTABILITY BUT NOT DEMANDING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY WITHOUT WHAT TO ACCOUNT FOR.THIS IS OUR TEAM IF WE DO NOT BUILD IT, NO ONE WILL.JOKANYANAM I WILL B GIVING KSH 200 /- PER MONTH FOR MY CLUB THAT I AV ALWAYS LOVED MY CHILDHOOD DAYS IN KISUMU CITY.SPONSORING THE MIGHTY GOR MAHIA OK NYAL TAMOWA JOKANYANAM
Poleni sana Shemeji, i still fail to understand why that amount is too high, The EC is to blame bcoz they could they knew about it all along.
As a friend of football i will contribute because my joy is to see football prosper in this country.
@Dan Original does it mean AFC and KBC have infacct paid more n who is the source of ur info, pls shed more light.
There is a saying that goes…..”you cant go wrong by being too careful!!”
It therefore follows that as much as am ready and willing to contribute towards this noble initiative of helping the team financially,i will not blindly send mpesa to this number.
REASON…..no accountability and transparency measures have been put into place…neither is their an assurance that this cash will go towards the intended purpose!!
With a foolproof assurance and visible structures in place,i will gladly contribute!!!!
oswozo stop such kind of reasoning.they are silly and cant help us u shld know that this is site visited by many and it markets our team as well as soliciting 4 finance to it and if u reason that way its like telling people not 2.we know its not your tradition of giving.our tax burden has been terribly inflated n our officials need to negotiate well with jkra.we again need to set our stategies well we did not elect our officials to to tell us what messes they have caused, but how mani strategies have been set.
principles of taxation are
convenient-easy to understand
cheap
uniform- it should serve evry tax payer fairly if not equal.
flexible it can be changed to suit circumstances well
my qstion is was uniformity observed r we able to understand there computations that were represented to us then i think to some extent fraud and ukabila is being exercised by kra that should be sorted by experts and EACC.
contribution should be appreciated with some membership cards to help in motivating more fans towards this drive and help in explaining to kra where we get our cash from.
our officials also need to be active in identifying problems before they happen not when we are now pushed to the corner this shows how for we are from professionalizing our club
Today i’m sending 1,000/- to the mPESA paybill number but i demand to be told how much has been collected so far.
The other day i contributed to the Gor Mahia Fans Foundation but there was no source of information on the amounts collected. There was no report on the success or failure of the same effort.
Please, bwana AR and Team, if by the end of this month there will be no transparency and accountability in cash matters then it will mark the end of my little generosity towards my beloved club.
Lastly, i call upon all lovers, fans and followers of our club to give cheerfully on this one. Thanks Bill Wabz. You are a true fan of Kenyan soccer.
Instructions:
Go to mPESA
Select Lipa na mPESA
Choose Paybill
Enter Business Number (350100)
Enter Account Number (Your Full Name)
Enter Amount
Enter Pin Number
Send.
Thank you.
pliz give and then demand accountability.do not tell people not to give.@OSWOZO MOZIEK.
It is time for real fans of gor mahia to stand up and be counted.politics aside please let us contribute and if you are not willing to do so ,do not discourage others who would really want to help the team.i have tried it with 500/- and it is working,please let us contribute na tuwache siasa ndogo ndogo at times.
Tom Ochieng okello@26……re-read my post and re-read it well!!!!.where have i told people not to give?????the last time i checked i was alone when i wrote that…..so clearly i speak for MYSELF!!!And get it straight from me….i will not go with your theory of give then demand accountability…..pole sana,am not that deluded!!!!!
I just contributed kes 1000.00. So my total today is 1100.00. My target is 1000 per month. Lets strive to reach 1million fans at 100 each per year…very simple. Kogalo for life! !!
I like that spirit of giving. after giving it is alright to put up structures to protect our monthly contributions.it is senseless to talk of accountability in bankruptcy.GOR MAHIA CANNOT DIE AND YET NYILUO POD NYUOL NEVER NEVER NEVER IN JESUS NAME AMEN.
Hi admin, I am Manaseh Otieno the chairman of Gor Mahia Fans Foundation, please reach me on motieno@gmff.or.ke so that we have a brief chat
I have contributed and requested 5 other colleagues to contribute no matter how little they can afford.Let’s mobilize all our friends to contribute to this noble idea.The EC should also be more vibrant and come up with adverts on the Paybill idea both in print media and the television.This will be able to reach more people hence more contribution.
To kogalo nation,lets remember that the word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool and if each one of us talk to 10 people on this noble idea we will go places.
Guys we must pull together for the sake of our great club.
The Villager I have also contribute twice to the Gor Mahia Fans Foundation and they have sent me emails showing the list of other contributors plus the total amount collected so far.
As soon as I get time today I will contribute to the Mpesa account given yesterday for our beloved club. I will contribute more and more. All I will ask for from the EC is accountability and transparency.
K’Ogalo For Ever!!
@Bill Wabz, the info is on goal.com. I think this is a very good wakeup call for Gor and Ingwe. Our resource is our fans since when it comes to material wealth we are not very well-endowed. But the talent and ability we have so let’s build our teams and the day we we have our own stadia the ‘sponsors’ will need to advertise and they will come at our own terms. If the reason for notsponsoring Gor is the ‘rowdy’ fans then I wish these companies would sponsor City stars. Or is there a reason for not doing so.
On accountability I would like to fault the club officials for not being transparent on matters financial. I read it from the KRA spokesman response as well as on Simba sports programme. Who are our auditors and do we have a qualified accountant to balance our books? We cannot rely on an ‘elected’ treasurer to do accounting work as these are ‘political’ jobs. These are the issues which have actually made sponsors to give us a blackout.
But now that we are where we are we have to continue contributing as we ask for accountability. Since we have a web site we should give a weekly breakdown of the collections, expenses as well as budget. If possible, list the contributors as well as the amounts.
To crown it all let’s have a Gor Mahia card for all the registered members with different levels i.e. Platinum, Gold, Silver and Ivory costing different amounts
I’ve tried to send money to the mpesa number given but not going through can somebody give me the procedure please I want to help the club.
At long last I’ve succeeded long live Ko’GALLO GOR MAHONO.
GOR MAHIA FC , in sickness in health . My contributions have been done to save my beloved CLUB. Chairman , please let us have Accountability to the highest standards ever this time . When GOR MAHIA FC is subjected to Tax by KRA and is still a society entity , then let us have it as a ltd company so that we can be giving Audited reports Annually and paying off dividends and have it listed at the NSE . It could be an opportunity to re-organize the club for the better .
Dear Chairman , Our beloved club GM FC is registered under the societies act and we are still subjected to TAX. ( Really ? )How long have you been in office ? What is your profession ? Did we see this coming ?
What is means , is that it has given you an opportunity to raise the club to the BIG LEAGUE of BARCALONA / MAN UTD etc . and make it a LTD company .
RACHIER , you are a lawyer , take us to cannan. It is time for GOR MAHIA FC to graduate and play BIG , Pay players BIG MONEY and for the club to start owning Assets like Printing Companies and making gate charges NOT less than 1000KSH. It also shows the secretariat is NOT prudent in its dealings .
Final Word , get advice from people like Dr. Martin Oduor he is brilliant in Accounting standards and Tax restructuring . I still love GOR MAHIA FC .
Lets forget the sideshows, common sence will prevail on KRA to realise they & the Govt. should help the clubs flourish & then start minting the profits. Where is Jubilee’s Youth Agenda they bragged with during elections? Instead they r coming out like their real MENTOR who almost killed Community Clubs by ordering players to play for their Employers.
On contribution, Mr Chairman u should give us the roadmap to the safety of our money. M-pesa a/c alone is not a safety net. Tell us you r going to recruit an accounting firm with reputation (PWC)for example to account for our funds. The funds we r talking about is not 1 million. That way the club is rich already but with just throwing the M-Pesa no. u r gamling with pple who r seriously wanting to contribute.
Thanks Manaseh of GMFF. You can count on me for further contributions. Just checked my alternate e-mail and found correspondence.
Please bloggers, let us try and raise good sums on this initiative. From the e-mail i received from GMFF, i realized that the number of contributors was worryingly low compared to the number of bloggers and even the multitudes of fans Kogalo has.
Allow me to quote Tom Ochieng Okello @18: “SPONSORING THE MIGHTY GOR MAHIA OK NYAL TAMOWA JOKANYANAM”. Thank you brother for that kind of attitude. @Bill Wabz, thank you too for your very touching generosity. At this rate my shoes can wait. I will not be left behind when all true Gor Mahia fans are standing to be counted.
This 118M is cummulative from which period?
Let us not assume that everybody frequents this site or any print media or any channel of getting info. I did send my contribution of kshs1100 & hope that atleast 10000 K’Ogalo fans will contribute not less than 1000/- every month bcos I believe that most of GM fans wastes more than 5000/- every month & paying 1000/- /month cannot be a problem. So the EC shud reach as many fans as possible. Lets also increase the gate charges to compliment on the M-pesa contributions.
@Agwanda How to contribute..go to mpesa.paybill 350100..acnt number..self.lets contribute!
Does anyone know where we are with contributions and two,wat are the plans to popularise the number
Just seen the collection summary..ba tuko down..lets pass the message to our friends and lets contribute!
I’ve just sent my contribution. Lets pass this information to all our friends
Let us contribute to the account. We cannot be talking here and it is only 249,000 contributed so far.