Nation editorial on the political aspect of sponsorship
This editorial was posted in the Daily Nation on April 26
One of the more interesting political stories this week happened in the field of football. The Kenya Revenue Authority slapped Gor Mahia with a Sh118 million bill which it claims the club owes in back taxes.
This was only the latest setback for Gor. A few weeks ago, Brookside Dairy announced they would discontinue their sponsorship of the club.
So Gor are now in as weak a position as they have been for many years. They lack a sponsor and are effectively facing bankruptcy.
What does this have to do with politics? Everything, of course. Although fans of many ethnic backgrounds come to the stadium on match day, Gor is the club of the Luo community.
“Mayienga ne waa Sudan!” goes a popular terrace chant. Basically translated as “we came from Sudan”, it hints at the migratory path from Bahr el Ghazal that the River Lake Nilotes took before settling around Lake Victoria.
What people see
Brookside, the milk producing giant, is owned by the Kenyatta family. There is no separating business from politics in Kenya.
Although Brookside is a firm that has the right to do business as it pleases, the way it looks when such a firm cuts ties with a club with a major emotional link to a community is that State House is sending the none-too-subtle message: “We are not one. Siasa mbaya, Maisha mbaya.”
That’s the inevitable interpretation even if it was not the intention.
Of course, KRA may have taken the decision to send the letter to Gor without the knowledge of the politicians.
But the fact that Gor was singled out will only be seen as a direct assault from State House.
When the story appeared in the press, a headline immediately came up on the Facebook Gor fan club page: Gor Mahia is not a club; it’s a lifestyle, but do we say. “Breaking news: Uhuru Kenyatta’s government out to finish Gor Mahia – Mayienga.”
What gives? Mr Kenyatta’s supporters will say that this does not matter. Let everyone carry their cross. Besides, the President may not even be aware of all these developments.
That’s a naïve view. One problem we have in Kenya is a dangerous empathy gap between Jubilee and Cord supporters.
Neither group wants to take the middle ground, although they all claim to have moved on. “You are a bunch of losers who can’t concede defeat,” runs the Jubilee line. “You are the worst thieves in the world,” is the Cord position.
A politically smart president would rise above these narrow tribal dogmas and seek to accommodate all citizens.
If I were Mr Kenyatta, I would tell Brookside to write a big, fat cheque and renew their sponsorship of Gor for several years, especially understanding that few companies will want to be associated with a brand the First Family has cut adrift.
I would be photographed going to a social occasion in Gor’s famous green jersey. I would understand that I will not win their votes at the next election. But, as a national leader of a country with so many challenges, I would appreciate that I, at least, need their respect.
Symbolic
The Kenyatta State House gains nothing when it appears to be governing for the 50 per cent of the electorate from which it believes it can secure continued political domination.
Soft gestures such as embracing sports are a great way to build national unity and win support.
Hosni Mubarak never missed an Egypt national team match, and Franco in Spain became humanised by his passionate support for Real Madrid. The same magic works in democracies, too.
In a major study in America in 2010, Stanford University researchers found that positive results for American football college teams two weeks before an election boosted the vote share of an incumbent in local elections by between 1.05 and 2.42 percentage points.
Even if it does not add a single vote to his total, Uhuru should know that he is supposed to be a symbol of national unity. Image matters.
He profits naught from being seen as fighting Gor (although club officials certainly have a role in curbing the actions of the hooligans who tarnish the club’s image), and would gain a lot by embracing that most totemic of clubs.
Interesting!….Gor lost funding from Brookside solely due to Hooliganism that their fans are known for. No Company wants to be associated to this. Why should the president also take photographs and attend Gor’s events while Hooliganism is still the order of the day at the club? That will mean that he (the presidents) embraces such behavior. There was no politics here but a business decision. Wahenga walinena “Msiba wakuchitakia hauna kilio” With regards to the tax bill, what do you mean by “Gor was singled out?” If Gor does not pay their bills, why do you want others to be called out with them? Kila mtu abebe msalaba wake
Ingo@1…how about you shut up on Gor matters and channel your energies towards improving your poor teams performance on the pitch and your never ending internal squabbles!!!
If you have not noticed,your contribution here is meaningless,useless and has no weight,just like you!!!…..so,get that between your ears…….if you can manage it!!!
@Ingo, you are struggling to make sense on this blog na afc inaenda nyasi .
I pity you…….. Eeee baneee
First we’ve to admit,it’s within the rights of Kenyatta family or the so called Brookside to withdraw there sponsorship to Kogallo after the expiry of the deal.it’s over and over,so as kogallo we’ve picked our pieces thus on the move.though I do agree with the editor,the timing was not good enough,there may not be,but it creates some political undertones.Secondly I think UK is not out to finish Gor, because he cannot finish Gor.Gor is not a tribal club,ask Arap Moi.Thirdly ,on the issue of tax,I think Gor is just being intimidated by the government,off all the clubs why single out Gor alone,where is Afc,sofapaka,mathare.Kra themselves etc
@Ingo…please take your energy and tantrums to Ingwe site. Your frequent to our site just shows how idle you are and this is why Ingwe is struggling. Where is Disi? Get off our back and we do not need you on this site. Get lost you busy body. You will never read my postings in your Ingwe site nor see me frequenting your site.
Mwakio,Sylvester and Oswozo why are you responding to someone who obviously has nothing between his ears??dont you know that nature abhors(hates)a vacuum?….when a head lacks brains,nature fills it with conceit!!!
Gor will come out strong after all this
Guys, for our information TUZO did not stop the Gor sponsorship but it lapsed like all contracts do. From reliable sources TUZO had already gotten the mileage they needed from Gor and decoded to concentrate on the school games.
Companies change marketing strategies e.g. KBL no longer sponsors the SAfcom Sevens and has been taken up by KQ etc. From waht I know sponsoring a team like Gor is like having a thousand billboards around the city.
But the fact is that no sponsor wants to be associated with a bad image just as much as they do for a non-performing team to manage their brands. In fact Mumias have occasionally raised concern with Ingwe about performance in the field but not the goons therein because they know that rioting Ingwe fans do little damage to the Mumias brand compared to the gains from sponsorship. Clubs like Fernabache and Santos in Turkey and Brazil always have their fans involved in riots but the sponsor never threatens to withdraw since this is usually a one-off unfortunate occurence which does not overide the benefits accruing from the sponsorship gains.
One thing we need to get away from is policising everything , including football. As much as most Gor fans come from a particular community the players come from all over and the fans , who are also from all over, have taken them in as their own.
Sponsors have rights to do what they want with their money. What I know is that once we sort out our administrative ineptness then we will have them coming in droves but all this will depend on the performance in the pitch as well as the behaviour of our fans.
even though i am against the gover coming hard on gor, i thnk @Ingo raises some reasonable issues.
1. Is gor ready or prepared to do business in a modern world? what Ingo is asking is simple, wether he is an AFC fan or not, and i think it’s helpful. why should i give my money to ppl who will stone me the next day? that is a question gor must be ready to answer. and by answer i do not mean giving a press statement. for now a temporary window of sending Mpesa is open but this is not how gor long term finance should be handled. gor needs a shirt sponsor and this needs goodwill from the business ppl.
2. indorder for gor to even ask for waiver, they must first establish what it is they want waivered. in other words if i am to forgive then you first must know what the sin is. gor cannot even tell the sin…what i mean is that gor needs to come out and give a breakdown of how they have earned and how they payed. if ‘bahashas’ were used to pay players then this needs to be corrected immidiately. the reason gor officials will come out fighting the KRA demands is that they have no records. so how can the gorverment forgive.
what the Nation has raised is merely a politcal angle and if the gor fraternity can actually believe this crap then it’s really a pity. this writer had nothing t better to do. he is simply playing with ppls emotions. i thnk it is quite clear by now that gor mahia’s worst enemy is the gor hooligan. this is now backed with an EC who cannot account for gor finances. i hope i am wrong on the accountability part.
Let them go with their Tuzo but let him know that come rain come sun shine,we will not pay K.R.A even asingle cent.mwalifu aende kwa Bensouda.
@Kennedy kunga please take uour comments to thr political forum. Here we are for the good of gor. Admin, you have the means to stop such tirades. Please help gor get rid of such by blocking such comments
@Kennedy just cool down; We can not chest thump after our EC has breached the LAW. We are better off engaging them with some decorum otherwise, GAVA can arm twist GM vibaya sana.
who is this guy calling himself kennedy kunga.I’ve never heard of him in this site. And if he is a gor fan then I can say that he is a hooligan who he may be have not contributed or if he has contributed then he is among those who hav contributed 10/-. Grow up Ken if u r in Gor & stop being a hooligan.
@CONTRIBUTIONS: I AM OF THE VIEW THAT AS GOR MAHIA WE SHOULD HAVE TWO CATEGORIES OF MONTHLY PAYING SUPPORTERS 1..Club approaching V V I PS (PERSONALITIES ) to be honorary members making monthly contributions at an amount
of their own choice. 2…..Encouraging members to apply to be committed monthly paying members.we should target upto 100 thousand members giving ksh 100 /- per month totalling upto. ksh 10 ,million shillings a month.This is ksh 120 million in a year.This is enough to lay the foundation of a continental African Dominant club.JAKOM RACHIER DO THIS.
……BUT REMEMBER TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IS MANDATORY….WE MUST AV PROFESSIONAL MARKETER CUM P.R. OFFICER AND INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO SUPERVISE OUR BOOKS. THIS IS THE GOD GIVEN OPPORTUNITY TO MODERNISE OUR TEAM….JOKANYANAM BEDU STRONG…GOD BLESS.
Ingo,ujinga nayo? 4 sure tangu uhuru akuwe rais ata mvua hainyesha,one bob haifanyi,usiano mbaya na nchis zingine,pei za v2 zimepanda,sisi kama fans wa gor 2tafanya zenye 2naweza na mungu ata2barika, 2ko wengi, 4million by 100=400,000000/=
let us not mourn over the lost sponsorship–As Raila said-breaking of a cooking stick should not signify the end of cooking.Gor is our club and as fans we have a responsibilty to keep it a float,contribute through Mpesa as if you are tithing
Moi and his Kanu government brought down Gor when it was at the top of the hill. Uhuru being Moi’s puppet has acquired his tactics and is now out to ground a club that brings the Luo and other communities together! Mr. President, politics of the 19th century will never succeed in this digital generation. We’ll use all the possible means to save this great club. I suggest Uhuru is using KRA to get back what Gor gained from Tuzo during their sponsorship time.
Gor is here to stay with or without sponsorship,tuzo can go to hell,if you say they dont want to associate with hooligans,then why cant they sponsor mathare or city stars…fact is kenyan companies(90 % ) are headed by some communities who dont love football n see it useless to invest in the same ,,but i believe we will come out of it stronger n richer
without any doubt and for as much as the sponsors has a right to renew or not to renew the sponsorship, the whole saga involves dirty politics so to speak,as a community, marginalization is not new to us, however, as pointed earlier, only GOD can finish GOR MAHIA FC. SHIRT SPONSOR OR NO SHIRT SPONSOR, kogalo is there to stay for as long as luos procreate. for i believe rightfully so that all children born to luos are automatical kogalo fans by birth-so guys mpesa itambe