Its time to find a successor to Ambrose Rachier
This club is in dire straits. It has been in terrible shape for several months now. Players have gone several months with little or no pay. Many key players have recently left. More are set to leave. There are reports that Simba of Dar es Salaam are planning another raid. There are reports of an impending mass exodus of players. The Chairman has not done much or anything to mitigate this quagmire.
If the league were to resume in August, the club might not even be able to honor matches because matches will be played to empty stadia. The Chairman himself admitted that he has not created a post Covid 19 plan. Where will the club get funds to honour matches?
Most fans understand that if this club were to start taking the issue of Accountability and Transparency seriously, the club can raise a lot of money. The lack of transparency is the biggest stumbling block that keeps the club and its players in poverty. Fans have read reports of gate proceeds being pocketed by officials, reports of club officials demanding bribes and clear evidence of officials under-reporting attendance. With this in mind, the fans, many of whom are not financially stable, are unwilling to blindly give their money to the club.
However what has become clear is that Chairman Ambrose Rachier does not have any intention of ever being transparent or accountable. He has made that clear. And at the age of 71, he is too set in his ways and cannot accept change. Even if he is pushed, he will only engage in half-hearted transparency measures. Just as he did with eTicketing where he tried it for one game and then gave up and made a lame excuse for why it would not work. He wants to run this club exactly how it was run in 1968 (52 years ago). And he is not open to new ideas.
However the Post Covid 19 scenario will require a different way of thinking. There will be no sponsor. And no gate collections. Even if the government re-opens business, many fans will stay away of stadia for fear of Covid 19. The normal way of running the club will not be viable.
How will the club survive?
The time has come to search for a more dynamic leader who can think out of the box. Just as fans brought Rachier to rescue the club in 2008, it is time for the different fan groups and branches to start an active search for a new Chairman.
There are over 200,000 committed Gor Mahia fans. Many of them occupy senior positions in corporations. It is impossible to imagine that fans cannot find a person to lead this team on an interim basis. A person who understands business aspects, understands how to promote and market the team and has contacts in large corporations that he could use to negotiate potential sponsorships. And above all things THIS PERSON MUST BE 100% COMITTED TO TRANSPARENCY. If no such person can be found then we may as well maintain the status quo.
With an accountable office, member subscriptions, merchandize sales and other aspects will increase significantly. And in the Post Covid 19 scenario it will be critical for the club to restart initiatives like Gor Mahia bread and Gor Mahia water in order to sustain the club.
This person would lead the club only on an interim basis. His/Her primary task will be to put in place structures that can sustain the club. He would then pave the way for elections.
My vote would go to Carol Radull.
Having watched Carol Radull interview football officials, it is clear that she understands what it takes to market and promote a club. She clearly understands the importance of transparency and accountability. She understands how to bring in the right people and hold them accountable. Plus with her media exposure, she would be the kind of person this club needs to put stall the impending disaster. She will give fans and players hope.
In the likely case that Carol declines, Kogallo must still find a new dynamic leader with a proven record of leading an organization who can come in on an interim basis, stabilize the club, lay the foundation for a future modern club, modernize the club’s constitution and then pave the way for elections. Surely there must be such a person amongst Gor Mahia’s legion of fans. In 2008, fans found Rachier and asked him to run the club. Surely we can find a new dynamic leader in 2020.
Rachier should cement his legacy
When Rachier announced that he would resign in December of 2019, perhaps the most disappointing aspect of his announcement was that he said he would not assist the club by finding a suitable replacement.
Flashback to 2008. The chairman was Erastus Okul. As a club Chairman, he was grossly incompetent. He was only known for constantly fighting with the KPL and FKF leaders, sowing disorder and instigating the creation of parallel leagues. But he redeemed himself when he gracefully stepped aside to allow Ambrose Rachier to take over. He admitted that he was incapable of lifting the club from its morass and stepped aside for Rachier to take over.
Now Mr. Rachier appears to have run out of ideas. Like Okul he can redeem himself by helping spearhead the search for a qualified individual who can help restore this club. He has created a good legacy by steering the club to six titles (4 league and 2 cups). Rachier should be thanked for lifting the club out of his mediocrity. He can cement his legacy by leaving the club to new leadership that can take the club out of its current quagmire and take it to the next level.
Commentary by Vincent “Video Editor” Ogutu
A very timely article , timely because the exit of Rachier is one of the remedies of going forward , however I disagree with the author on some of the names he puts forward albeit with good intentions , as the drivers of this change .
The rot in Gor is so deep , the intrigues so thuggish that a radical transition is required to get us out of this rut and one well meaning Carol Radul cant be that answer , not at this stage anyway .
What or who we need at this phase is a ruthless wealthy visionary benevolent legal thug , one capable of forcefully bringing change in its leadership , a merciless and influential individual capable of instructing the police to show no mercy whatsoever to the hooligans who mar our games and deter our families from attending matches thus denying the club much needed matchday revenue .
That is the kind of person that can provide the likes of Carol Radul or Giddy Giddy the environment to actualise what the author has ably enumurated , because the genesis of our problems is rotten leadership , an archaic leadership structure , a Zinjanthropic election regime and a new generation fake thuggish fanbase (not all ) who believe thuggery in public e.g stadiums , highways and funerals is fashionable .
Gor Mahia must transit from this analogue to the present , for that to happen , a few skulls must be broken , anything short of that ,then we would rather remain with the first aid/bandage regime of Ambrose Rachier .
Yes Rachier seems to have ran out of ideas but the problem may not necessarily mean to vote for another person but to change the club structure to a modern one and commercialise the club, that said what happened to the constitution implementation that was to be passed last December?
Nobody wants to touch GMFC FC with a ten foot pole because I believe the club is even more rotten from the inside than outside.
Besides Ador, I think only Aduda and Ngala know the true extent of the rot.
When Ador leaves, which is the best for the club, then the creditors, real and fake, will start creeping out of the woodwork and maybe cripple/derail the club.
Examples.
1) KRA for over kes. 100m taxes not paid.
2) Coaches not paid Bob Williamson 1m “forgiven”, Oktay 750k (how yet he opted out of his contract),
3) Players e.g Oliech claiming millions for “breach of contract”.
4) Hotel bills etc e.g the Buruburu hotel owed 600k
5) Don’t be surprised if Rachier and other EC also put in claims for “refund of personal funds used on club”.
Ador has always claimed GMFC has HUGE DEBTS but has never listed them.
Many mysterious debts are given preference in GMFC that players and TB are only paid one or half a month’s salary even when the Government gives the office kes.10m.
Then there is claim that the club’s monthly payroll is kes.5m. For that to be true most the 36 players & TB would be earning, a paper salary, of more than kes.100k per month. Even GMAF has joined the office in paying a bloated team, both senior and youth, without a value for money analysis.
Gor Mahia fraternity must be smart and build on the club’s successes while correcting mistakes of the past regime which may take years due to the opaque way the club has been run.
The only way forward is to assure players and TB a minimum monthly salary payment directly from monthly contributions by members and funds. This is the only way to save the club which is on its death bed.
Bottom line we need need to fast, decisively and INDEPENDENTLY.
ADOR should leave now to give GMFC a chance to survive and thrive in the future. The more he postpones his departure the more the cancer is spreading as even initiatives like GMAF have also become infected.
Let us be careful about what we say otherwise we will incite and burn the club. Let us do it the way we did it with Rachier. We shop for a suitable replacement and present him/her to the fans.If workable, the better for the club but commenting without offering somebody in mind will take us nowhere. Better the Devi you know than angel you don’t know. I still bet for Rachier for the time being but kick out all the officials around him .
@Charles , on the contrary to your assertion , there are a lot of people ( businessmen ) who would die at the opportunity to invest in either Gor Mahia or Afc Leopards courtesy of the millions of dollars in latent potential that these two clubs possess , but it is that potential fanbase that can make that a reality , but what is it , that this fanbase must do to create an enabling environment to attract this investment ? , The foremost thing the fans can do as a matter of urgency is to VOTE THE RIGHT PEOPLE INTO OFFICE .
But this is just one facet , but I mention it because it is one factor that is within our control , the other factors that are necessary but are without our control is a functional FKF , a functioning KPL ltd , Football stadias within the city and a threatening Afc Leopards , Shabana and more community clubs with intense tribal loyalties , before anybody jumps in with feelings about my use of intense tribal loyalties , let me hasten to add that the likes of Liverpool , Man U , Barcelona , Real Madrid have their origins in intense community /tribal loyalties and rivalry but who , because of deliberate good leadership , packaging , marketing and shrewd business acumens have since gone global .
Simba Sports club , who less than a decade ago were our peers have now made us their academy and in another decade , we will be told of e.g what the politicians like telling us , and that is how at one time , we were at par with South Korea or Singapore .
Running a club in this era is 100% full time business , NOT fake unhelpful community feelings .
Time for focus, Time to change bad habits.
GMAF & TM Jolawi please note GMFC needs only 25 players. No need to waste scarce funds & resources on senior team passengers and the larger than life and amorphous youth team.
Polack revealed that he was pursuing to have 25 quality players to better the results he posted at the continental scene….
“It took them long to gel hence we were tossed out. If we can hold on the ones we have and bring just a few, then we will roar again. At least 25 players comprised of three shot stoppers, eight defenders, ten midfielders and four strikers is all we need to achieve our plan,”‘ he said.
Gor Mahia leadership has more problems than Ambrose Rachier, it has leadership with no mission if anything, their stomach. There are dinosaurs in this club who are not ready for change. I thought the author of this article, being a digital generation would have indicated what upcoming progressive groups like Kulundeng, GMAF and others would contribute to the God’s leadership, these groups are strong and have positive drive to support the club yet some officials look at them with fear and want to treat them as intruders. GMAF for example is made up of people determined to support the club and are working on strategies to lift the status of the club, yet some members/officials of the club including and some fans feel jilted as if they are the sole owners of the club. Rachier is not a problem but the attitude of using Gor as spring board by some of his staff is what is the dangerous act.
Too little too late, we saw it coming five years ago… Ask @Dan Original