Calm heads must prevail
At least three Gor Mahia fans were injured when they were allegedly attacked in Nakuru after seeing their side beat Chemelil 1-0 on Sunday evening. Reports suggest that they were ambushed: Reports suggest that a motorcycle was deliberately left on the road. The convoy stopped to remove a motor bike that had been abandoned on the road and when the ‘owners’ appeared leading to an altercation. The armed youth began pelting stones smashing the windows of their buses resulting in the injuries.
“We reported the incident to the authorities after we had taken them to the nearby St. Mary’s hospital and had to get Police escort for the rest of the journey,” explained Bwana.
He called upon their fans to be vigilant and uphold peace in the wake of the second attack involving their travelling supporters following a similar incident in which the ‘Green Army’ was assailed in Luanda following a game against Western Stima.
“If push comes to shove, we might as well be forced to engage the Police as part of our convoy when we travel, but for now we will do with our own security arrangements,” he added confirming that the injured were treated and discharged.
Its possible that the ambush was well planned in advance. According to eyewitness, almost 100 youth appeared suddenly out of nowhere armed with sticks and stones. Other eyewitness accounts suggest that one of the youth started the altercation by snatching a vuvuzela from a fan.
If Police were to investigate by interviewing a few of the locals, they would easily get information and get to the bottom of thise case.
It is critical that Kenya’s law enforcement ensure the safety of travelling fans. Not only do Gor Mahia fans provide other teams much needed funds, but local businessmen in places like Nakuru and Thika have come to depend on Gor Mahia’s travelling fans.
More important than that however is the safety of Kenya citizens. The Police have a duty to keep all Kenyans safe.
And with political temperatures rising, it is critical that Police immediately establish their presence to prevent such incidences from escalating.
I appeal for absolute calm and restraint from all Gor Mahia fans. We must not play into anyone’s tricks. Apparently this may be a well-drawn out evil scheme whose motive is anyone’s guess.
I personally did not travel but I would like condemn the incident, its unfortunate indeed. However a sincere caution my fellow supporters, do not engage in any acts while travelling as a group during or after the matches which will play in to the hands of the enemy. Just like the statement I made after the KCB match a week ago at the city stadium; never never try anything that inconveniences other Kenyans in the name of supporting Team Gor Mahia.Lets market brand Kogalo in positive ways all the time, coz thats the only way to build and not destroy the good name.
gor fans shud not fall into this trap. that attack had nothing to do with football. its all about potraying a certain community as violent. this is the product of the prayer meetings that were being held around the country by the hague characters. what gor can do is to appeal to fkk and register nakuru as an hostile area. its nakuru that will loose the biz that gor fans bring. furthermore why shud gor play in that shamba they refer to as a pitch. nakuru games shud be moved to naivasha coz the next attack will most likely be carried out on the gor players themselves. these guys will be out to provoc gor in all means. gor fans pls ignore this attack but EC, pls have gor matches moved from nakuru.
some of our fans took things from businessmen near highway tuskys on the nakuru highway and refused to pay leading the enterprenuers to make phone calls to youths[mungiki]on the free area matatu stage to start throwing stones any vihecle with kogalo suppoters so lets behave our self while travelling 4 away matches and respect other pples properties.
Fellow fans let us at all times and in all places exercise calm and restraint.
We are a peace loving people and let us remain as such.Let us at all times separate the issues of the politics of the day and negative ethnicity from matters gor mahia.
Gor mahia is a football team and not a political party.We are open and welcome to anybody regardless of their political party affiliations or ethnic background.We shall not be dettered in our quest to unite the wonderful people of this country from the lake shores to the mountains,from the oceans to the plains thru sports.
We at gor mahia always trancedes all barriers be they tribe,relligion,social status etc etc.That is why our support is as diverse as it is unique.
We are supported all over kenya,from the sprawling but humble ndunga unuse to the leafy suburbs of muthaiga and muthangari.From the plains of kajiado to the slopes of shimba hills.At gor mahia you will find kamau wa njoroge and saimz muiruri from the potato farms of mukurwe-ini and you will also find ochigah he of the snake infested sugarcane plantations of muhoroni.Our common denominator is gor mahia.
Fellow fans,lets’ not fight back,but lets’ continue reaching out even to those who wish us bad.Above all lets’tolerate one another and co-exist peacefully with one another in this country.Lets appreciate our diversity.
I also thank the admin for his timely editorial and join him in appealing for peace and calm.Ahsanteni!
Confirm plz if we have loose one of our fans whom were attacked on Sato.av jst read frm futaa.com if so what is the step forward frm officials?
I know it’s tough for some of our fans but restraint and respect for other members of the public. Let’s always celebrate in moderation
I have sadly read elsewhere that one of the fans has passed on, if true pole sana. But now its him who has gone, whos next? You never know so maximum caution is a must; too much intoxication either thru hard drink and opium(bang), lets avoid all these for the good of the club but most of all for our own safety. I do not agree that matches should be moved from Nakuru, it is us who need to change.
And lets separate politics from football, any time we mix political issues with football we are seen differently by the public , some of whom are not belonging to the political affiliations as ourselves; and further we help them confirm the stereotyped mirth of “violent by nature”
To all our dear Gor Mahia fans, let us behave soberly and restrain from any act of provocation. Let us respect the public. After our KCB game, it was reported that some of Gor Mahia fans misbehaved along the streets of Nairobi. This must be stopped and over celebration is not acceptable going forward.
We should restrain from any act of provoking members of the public that have got nothing to do with neither football nor Gor Mahia. All manners of acts of hooliganism, unnecessary abuses, thuggery and provocations must be stopped. If we continue like this, we are going to suffer more dire consequences of losing more lives and properties. Let us all go to stadium to support our boys to win the game but not to cause disharmony with rival fans and supporters.
I humbly appeal to all our fans that let us win the public to our side by being responsible fans and restrain from any negative acts that will associate our club with past bad memories. I would like to see 50,000 fans attending our games at any single day but we have to learn to be accommodative at all times no matter the results. If we lose, let us leave to fight another day and if we win, let us celebrate with lots of restraints.
I propose that misplaced used of terms such as SERIKAL or obscene terms like ……..YAKO should be stopped as these does not augur well with the public. Do our fans know that we have children (future players & fans), our dear parents, spouses, in laws, friends, bosses, relatives etc watching these matches in the TVs or Sofaset Branch. The jury is now out and we fans are messing our club. We all have to behave respectfully during and after games. Let us show maturity at all times and educate our fellow fans to behave honourably. We are killing our Kogalo brand and let make a vow to stop such primitive and outdated behaviours. Let us support the team with dignity.
I have just heard that we lost a fan and this is highly regrettable on something could have not happened at all. May the soul of that fan R.I.P.
IF TRAVELLING IS NECESSARY, SECURITY IS A MUST
I join my colleagues to condemn in the strongest terms possible the unfortunate attack to ourtaravelling fans on their way from Nakuru after attending a KPL match against Chemilil and won 1-0.
Whilst I do not want to speculate at the moment the
motive of the attack, the incident was unfortunate and devilish to say the least. I also thank our offials for the quick respond, the travelling fans for remaining calm when their inner equilibrium was tested and the police for providing escort for the rest of the journey.
Finally, may i wish the injured fans quick recovery. I am glad the fans were treated and discharged. Let the party continue!
At Mwakio what you have said is SPOT ON. Day in day out we call for controlled celebration. When GM wins it doesn’t mean that those who walk home humbly are not happy about the win, but being a nuisance to the members of the public has got it’s negative conotations. Maybe we should celebrate as much as we can at the venue of the match, vent as much as possible then walk/go home happy. Losing a fan(God forbid) even has the negative effect of discouraging some little-faith fans. The moment we know that football is not a matter of life and death, especially to us fans, then we will enjoy it. In Tz Yanga and Simba will fill the 60,000 seater stadium but leave without incidences, why not us. This is no way absolving oher people to take advantage of the fans enjoyment and attack them. It’s unfortunate that as fans we forget all the safety precautions when we are in a group.
i always insist that we should learn to travel in a convoy,no one can easily attack us,but some of us feel so special that they cant travel with others,like when this incident was happening,some of us were already approaching limuru,why?remember this is an electineering year tempers are also high,so siri ni kutembea pamoja,na t7usichokoze watu. may the dead fellow rest in peace.amen
poleni sana my inlaws.lets celebrate our wins with caution and pliz politics aside in football and we will prosper.Lets meet on 29/7/2012.
I hardly comment three times on an issue but this demands that I do. Calling out to our supporters, come out lets hear you on this grave matter.See Dan and Mwakio? I am totally with them, EC where is the supporters’ education programme that had been proposed, what happened to it?
If @#4 Abby Otty’s comments above is a truer version of what instigated the incident, then I join all the other bloggers on this site in calling on the EC to expadite the Supporter Education Program as soon as possible; because at this rate no one would want to go to any Gor matches since “whether we win or we loose”, there are still reports of a few hooligans out there hell-bent on soiling the good name of Gor ….
I survived narrowly, by a whisker as they say. We left in a convoy of 3 cars and found the stoning had just happened and the thugs were hungry for more Gor fans. We were two in my car, both wearing the famous jersey, just what they were looking for. Just when they were about to throw the 1st stone at my car, something drew their attention to other cars that were taking a side road, they ran in that direction and I rolled up my tinted windows. When they came back, as we were stuck in that traffic, they either could nolonger see us coz of the tint or God was just being my saviour again. We escaped. I saw all the broken glass on the road and I knew that had been close. Lessons learnt;
1. The attacks took place at approx. 620pm, so the thugs waited for the last of the Kogalo fans, knowing full well that they had a fewer number to deal with. Always leave immediately after the match for long drives back home.
2. Drive in a convoy. This probably got them undecided on whether to attack or not. Reality is most of that convoy was not Kogalo fans anymore, got them disinterested.
3. Tint ur car. The idiots were probably drunk and cud not recognize our shirts anymore.
Other suggestions;
1. It’s a tense moment as we approach elections. Gor matches shud kick off early so that fans can leave early. Most evil is committed under the cover of darkness.
2. Our fans shud leave good memories rather than bad ones whenever we win or lose. Please pay for all services received and make the locals look forward to seeing u again. We need to grow our fan base, not keep it constant. That fan education project badly needed.
3. Fans shud embrace the locals, not chide them in anyway. U cud cause others pain they have no idea any. For instance, I wudnt have known why I was being targetted. Clearly this was an act of revenge on anything Gor.
Finally, Kogalo is getting better by the day. Let’s win our next game.
The truth be told. Some of our fans are a disgrace to the GM community as well as their political and ethnic communities. If we shy away from saying the truth we will be lying to ourselves. The net result is that we all end up being lumped together. As someone said on this blog this stereotyping could even cause him/her to miss clinching a contract or some other opportunity. Previously we have been welcome wherever we go travelling since we ended up uplfting the local businnesses like bars, butchers, mama njugus, hotel accomodation etc. But if we continue with this behaviuor don’t be surprised when we will not be welcome in some establishments because of this thugs. The other unfortunate thing is that the innocent end up suffering for what they have no idea. As a movement we must have some morals. I used to take my son and daughter to the stadium just like my late Dad did to me but there is a clique which is obsessed with spewing obscenities and especially to the women folk. Never known what they gain by doing that. Occasionally I have tried to talk them off it but due to the drinks and ‘smoke’ they carry to the stadium it’s a futile attempt. The GM management must now take this as a MAJOR task before the brand loses its allure
Am akogalo fan but the behaviour of some of our fan is not good .how do u except to use avulnarable language to people,this is an election year and many pple are watching and they know kidholuo so we have to behave and celebrate peace fully sio kusumbua watu wengine wenye hata hawana haja na mpira.Tusifanye watu wengine watuogope kwani hii inaletea wengine shida wakielekea nyumbani kivyao .pole kwa familia fan mwenye ametuacha.R.I.P
These attacks are really now becoming too much to our traveling fans! Those behind all these are out to provoke GM fans which is not right. Anyway we’ve forgiven them to focus on our winning ways and do hope for a positive change as far as this issue is concerned.