Will the SACCO idea be sustained?
In 2014, multiple initiatives were announced by Gor Mahia. These included the pay bill number 350100, the membership drive, various fund raisers, Diamond Trust ticketing etc. All these were poorly executed. And after much fanfair, the club all but stopped promoting these ideas. The 350100 pay bill number is a classic example. When it started, the club promoted it aggressively. The list of donors was updated often and the treasurer actually accounted for the money sent. playing unit was even wearing jerseys emblazoned with the pay bill number and many players actively promoted it. Suddenly the officials these useful activities. And naturally donations to the paybill number stopped. As for the membership drive, the club EC did very little to promote it.
It is important to give credit to the club officials for trying. Some EC members have made significant efforts. But it is also important to note where improvements are needed. The most important aspect of a new initiative is that it must be sustained. The club must constantly appeal to fans and give fans clear direction on how they can participate.
Back in 2010, the club introduced jerseys emblazoned with the club name: “Gor Mahia”. These jerseys became very popular and at one point generated some significant income for the club. But soon pirates took over the business. The club did not bother to warn fans about where to buy and where not to buy jerseys.
Earlier this year, Gor Biro bread was launched amid fanfair by none other than the former prime minister. There was plenty of excitement. One month later, the excitement appears to be dissipating and there is still no word regarding how much the club is benefiting from the bread. There are now some reports that the bread initiative is not really generating anything close to the income that was anticipated. In fact t would not be a bad idea for the club to wear jerseys branded with the bread to constantly remind the public.
Professional Management
Now the club has finally launched the Gor Mahia Sacco one year after it was announced. Chairman Rachier assured that Gor Mahia Sacco will be operated professionally and independently from the club and the chairman of the club will be the only official representative in the SACCO board. This is excellent news.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the SACCO will be run by a Mr. Victor Kidiwa. If this is the same Victor Kidiwa who is the CEO at Development Bank of Kenya then this is good news. For many years now, fans on this blog and elsewhere have called for the club to be run by competent professionals who are accountable and understand how to market and promote ideas.
Fans will be hoping that unlike the membership drive that flopped, the SACCO idea will be promoted aggressively and sustained. The person running the SACCO must constantly update the members and keep them posted to assuage any fears that may arise. Running the SACCO with a modicum of professionalism and accountability is the most important aspect of sustaining the SACCO; Professional and accountable management will attract members.
Credit should go to the club patron Mr. Raila Odinga who has been at the forefront of this initiative and also the bread initiative. As a true sports fan, he wants to see Kenyan clubs prosper. Now its up to the fans to show their support for the club.
Structure of the SACCO
Mr. Kidiwa stressed that the SACCO will make use of modern technology in order maximize its income.
“The SACCO is capitalizing on the technological innovations in Mobile Money transfers to grow its Savings and real-time credit offering and has provided opportunities for all citizens to be a part of its growth. To join, an individual will be required to pay an entry fee of KES 500 and fully paid up capital of 50 Shares of KES 20 each, to be recovered from one’s total contributions at the end of the year”
“The SACCO will also operate on minimum contributions of KES 50 per days or KES 100, Weekly or KES 200 Monthly. All transactions can be done via MPESA’s AND MOBIKASH PAYBILL NOs. 897260 or through a bank account with Development Bank Account number: 5451034009 and your National ID as your Account Reference Number.
For every registration fee of KES 500 made to the Sacco, Gor Mahia Football Club will receive KES 100
One aspect that does not impress many fans is the “Adopt a player” initiative which sets out to encourage individual members to adopt a Gor Mahia FC player by saving for them KES 1,000 per month and eventually mentoring them into financially independent citizens.” . This initiative does not seem to make sense when you consider that the player turnover at the club is so high hat half the players never last more than two years at the club. Perhaps it would have been better to channel that money to the Gor Mahia U19 team or channel it towards a fund aimed at building a training ground for the club.
Do not give up on other initiatives
And finally, the club must not give up on other initiatives that were started. The paybill number, membership drive, jersey sales, merchandize sales etc must all be promoted aggressively. There are still some fans who want to give direct contributions to the club without joining a SACCO. These can use the 350100 pay bill number. There are some fans who would like to become members so they can vote in club elections. And there are some like myself who would like to purchase authentic club merchandize on a regular basis.
And do not forget about sponsorship. The club’s top brass must continue to seek corporate sponsorship. They need not seek a massive sponsorship deal such as the one they signed with Tuzo. Even a deal that is worth half that is worth pursuing. The club may need to become realistic about how much sponsorship it can attract right now.
In general, the club must continue to pursue several avenues of income if it is to be competitive at continental and indeed even local and regional levels. One positive aspect of losing the Tuzo sponsorship is that it has forced officials to think outside the box and it has made fans realize that they need to behave themselves.
Gor Mahia and AFC demand changes
Speaking of revenue sources, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, have called for a change of the Kenyan Premier League rulebook regarding gate collections in a desperate move to bolster their accounts.
Currently, the home team has solitary control over match day proceedings. Gor and Leopards now want this changed;
It is worth noting that at some point in the 1980s, 50% of net gate proceeds would go to the home team while 30% would go to the visiting team. This enocuraged fans to travel to away games.
The two clubs have also called for the abolishment of double headers. Gor Mahia organising secretary, David Kiilo, said that he had noted with great concern the manner in which clubs hike ticket prices when they face the two teams.
“We are struggling to meet our financial obligations, but these clubs are taking advantage of us and I think it is time somebody did something about it.
Most of these clubs are supported by corporate companies and ordinarily don’t charge entry fee, but drive the ticket prices to as high as Sh1,000 whenever they are hosting us or Ingwe,” Kiilo said.
AFC Leopards organising secretary, Timothy Lilumbi, accused the Kenyan Premier League Limited of conspiring with certain clubs “to force unnecessary double headers” for fixtures involving the two. “Surely it is not fair that other clubs take advantage of our huge following to make extra cash from us through gate ollections,” Lilumbi said.
We have waited long for a Gor Mahia Sacco. I joined yesterday. I have no problem with Adopt a player . In fact it’s a noble idea. What is wrong with a person out of his violation saving for a player. He could as well have given the money to any other charity of his choice.
Thank you lord, we wanted it, we cried for it, now it is here ,lets all join it – NO MORE MOURNING, NO MORE WHINING. It is the kind of thing that will sustain this club and project it far in to the future.
Yet even as we say this there is need for educating the public further about it as some may still not have fully understood it. I also trust that this SACCO will be run professionally and in accordance SASRA Regulations.
Ingo here is something for you to copy since as always Kogalo leads and Efusi follows.
How long have we asked for a Gor Sacco on this blog, let alone other fora? And to find professionals like Victor Kidiwa dedicating their time away from their families after hours is beyond imagination. In a big way it shows mighty Kogalo has touched the hearts and souls of many Kenyans who would sacrifice anything to give back to the club. Many have called for a limited liability company to be formed to run the affairs of the club but this has faced hurdles after hurdles, notoriously from the hooligans, who under the banner of Gor being a community club have insisted that Gor cannot be ‘sold’ to a few rich individuals. Well here’s our chance to take control of destiny and completely revolutionalise our beloved club. I have registered through mpesa pay bill 897260 with my account number being my ID or passport. I am already pushing all my family members to do the same, then the office, my friends on Face Book, twitter, instagram, all over the world. True Kogalo fans, do you know what a Sacco means? With a daily contribution of kes 50, we have set a target to reach every single Kogalo fan even in the village. Who will be left out? Do u want to? Then again, within a year or so, we should have reached a minimum target to convert to a Deposit Taking Micro finance Institution or even buy a small bank to fastrack one of our dreams of becoming a bank. It all changes everything for Kogalo and nyikwaa Ramogi.
Can u imagine a bank making kes 1bn in profits and donating 10% of its profits to the club?. That’s kes 100m p.a., wouldn’t that go along way in developing academies right from under 7? And that’s just one way the Sacco will benefit the club.
Adopt a player is a great strategy to buy loyalty from our players. I have adopted two and I have developed a rapport with them, talking to them regularly and teaching them how to save, how to lead a clean celebrity life. It’s completely optional. I adopted on who plays the position I used to play and another one who plays a position I always wanted to play but didnt. I know Mr. KIDIWA has adopted 4 players and we get to hear interesting views from them. Remember these boys are human beings as well and they go through life’s challenges just like us.
Finally, Kogalo make this Sacco work, there are many who wish they were in our position. We are already steps ahead.
@Pod Antie, i like the way you have campaigned for the SACCO.
I have always wanted Gor Mahia sold and i think this is the best way to make that happen. I’m joining before close of business tomorrow.
Meanwhile, i will continue asking the EC to sell the club to the SACCO because all supporters have an avenue of owning a piece of the club.
Great work! Great Year!
It is my sincere hope that by now all of us who subscribe to this blog have registered as members because we were really in the forefront for this idea. Personally I have. And let’s encourage others to do so
If we are to succeed in all the initiatives,then the sacco must take over to aggressively promote them, club marchandise and gor youth team included, infact we should have an academy.
In other words the sacco should take the ownership of the club in such a manner that the membership of the club is thro’ the sacco.
This is the most credible idea to have come from the ec, congrats and thanks
I strongly support this piece of information and i think Gor should be more proactive than ever and it is high time the club should try all the avenues to raise the clubs money
I have been in Kisumu since Monday 18th May. I have not seen any activities aimed at promoting the SACCO idea or mobilizing the public to join yet Gor Mahia will be in this very town this coming weekend. I mean banners or vehicles doing the rounds with blaring messages on mounted PASs. Are we going to miss this opportunity to recruit the SACCO membership just the same way we missed it in Awendo a fortnight ago?
This SACCO idea is noble and is really workable, however, it requires hard work. Sitting down and waiting for members to arrive from I-don’tt-know-where is certainly not the winning formula about this matter. On my way to Kisumu, I passed through Nairobi that very Sunday afternoon and my curiosity was drawn by Raila’s voice addressing a crowd of Gor Mahia supporters outside Nyayo stadium. It is only when I inquired from a traffic Policewoman that she told me that Baba was launching Gor Mahia SACCO. Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!
Personally I thank Oduor12 for enlightening me through his post in this blog about the requirements for registration with the SACCO. Had it not been for him I would still be in the dark. How many more outside there are willing to join the SACCO yet they lack the necessary education about it? Aggressive Marketing has been our biggest let down in all initiatives so far.
Most welcome @ BB.
However I must insist that Gor Mahia Sacco must FULLY OWN Gor Mahia F.C in the near future. The 2 cannot exist as separate entities. Let’s build the Sacco and build our beloved K’galo outright.
Otherwise why take the name Gor Mahia Sacco, there are many Saccos out there that could have absorbed Gor Mahia members.
Instead of the “Adopt A Player” perhaps these monies should be channeled towards a salary fund to mitigate against the risks of some players missing “adoption” so to say.
See the following concerns from Head Coach Frank Nutall.
Gor Mahia Head Coach Frank Nuttal has called for sponsors to come on board and help professionalize the club.
According to the Scot, he has found it difficult to professionalize the team’s training schedule due to lack of various necessities, the factor that can’t be improved due to financial instability.
Financial limitations
-I have been trying to improve and professionalize our training environment since I came to the club but for various reasons, including financial limitations, I have been unable to do so. I believe if we get sponsors to take care areas such as training ground, training equipment, gym and first aid kits supplies, it will be a big boost to us, he is quoted as saying by the club’s official site.
-If we can have various sponsors working with us, it will be great. It doesn’t have to be a big sponsor. Interested companies or individuals can come on board to work with us. The sponsors will gain by getting the much needed visibility through the team and its fan base. Their help will enable me to implement my plans. I want to move the club forward.
Make ends meet
The 14 time champions has struggled to make ends meet at least off the pitch as they top the standings on 30 points from 12 games.
One problem we have with Gor is the structure of the leadership. When it comes to these noble ideas e.g. SACCO, Adopt-a-player, Gor Bread etc there is no one to own them and run with them. In that EC do we have someone in charge of PR and promoting the club?
The person does not need to be a PR guru but someone who can engage the right people or firms to do this on behalf of the club even if we have to share the proceeds from the venture.
That is how it happens the world over.