We are doomed if don’t nurture our own talent

Murithi Mutiga, a professional colleague and an avid soccer enthusiast, recently wondered, rather concerned, why it is that Kenya is simply incapable of defeating Uganda in matters football.

And it does not matter whether the match is played at Nyayo or Kasarani, or at Namboole or Nakivubo stadiums. It does not matter whether it is our doomed Harambee Stars or our local clubs, be it Ingwe, K’Ogalo, Tusker or even Sofapaka.

After some quick reflection, I saw Mutiga’s point. The last time Ingwe played a Ugandan side — in the final of the Nile Basin tournament last year — we lost.

The last time K’Ogalo played against Ugandan opposition during the Cecafa Club Championships in Rwanda last year, they too lost miserably.

As far as I can remember, Uganda Cranes has always got the better of Harambee Stars, notwithstanding the presence of our supposedly more established professionals such as Dennis Oliech and the Wanyama brothers Mariga and Victor.

What baffles Mutiga, and should worry all of us, is the fact that the Kenya Premier League is saturated with Ugandan, and to an extent, Rwandese and Burundian stars.

At AFC Leopards we have Musa Mudde and Karim Ndungwa. Tusker has up to three Ugandans, including a gentleman called Onyiruoth or a name close to that. Ushuru has some Katerega (a very gifted player), a winger called Omunuk and the good old Ivan Anguyo “de Mabior”.

Sofapaka too has its fair share of Ugandans, including a fellow called Bagoole while Thika United enjoys the services of goalkeeper Hamza Muwonge.

MOMENTARILY LOST

But no team equals K’Ogalo when it comes to hiring Ugandans. Watching the Gor Mahia versus Western Stima match in Kisumu last weekend, I was momentarily lost as to whether Stima’s opponents were Uganda Cranes, Amavubi (the Rwandese national team) or K’Ogalo. 

Save for goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch, defender Musa Mohammed and striker Timothy Otieno, the rest were Walusimbi, Kagere (or is it Kagame?), Sibomana, Habyarimana, Nkurunziza, Aucho, Nzigiyimana, Niyombara, name them!

Never mind that another import from across the border in the name of Emuge was lying in wait, just in case one of his kinsmen got injured.

How times have changed. When K’Ogalo was K’Ogalo some years back, diehards like Apingo Nyawawa and Otieno Nyamson Owadgi Omande could not have entertained a “polluted” Gor Mahia — full of foreign imports with virtually no home grown talent.

Until we nurture our home grown talent, we’ll never get anywhere in football; ask England.