The curious case of Abisai and his Sh221m football jackpot

SportPesa Sh221 million jackpot winner Samuel Abisai joins residents of Kakamega in dancing isukuti to celebrate at the Bukhungu stadium in Kakamega on May 6, 2017. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The 28-year-old Abisai has received the red carpet treatment since, and returned to his Kakamega home town as a celebrity in a convoy.
  • Daily, there are stories of young people being ruined by betting, squandering away their little moneys, diverting school fees, or stealing from relatives to fund the habits.
  • There is no political or distributive process in Kenya that would have put Sh2 million, let alone, Sh221 million, in Abisai’s pocket.

You just never see some things coming. Kenya has a new hero. He is Samuel Abisai, whose great achievement was winning the Sh221 million SportPesa Mega Jackpot.

Some media reports have declared it the biggest payout in African gaming history; others said it was the second biggest.

The 28-year-old Abisai has received the red carpet treatment since, and returned to his Kakamega home town as a celebrity in a convoy.

The Star newspaper reported, a little breathlessly: “Business in Kakamega Town came to a standstill as … Abisai made a grand return to his home.

“… Abisai arrived … his six-vehicle convoy was led by police outriders.

“Traders in the Kakamega main market who do business with Abisai’s father Mabinda, who sells ropes for a living, abandoned their stalls and joined his convoy to have a glimpse of him as isukuti (drum) beats filled the air.

JOIN PROCESSION

“Boda boda riders briefly halted their trade to join the procession…”

Sports betting has become a nightmare for many parents and guardians of public morality, not just in Kenya, but also all over Africa. In Kampala, at the last count there were reportedly more than 2,000 of them.

Daily, there are stories of young people being ruined by betting, squandering away their little money, diverting school fees, or stealing from relatives to fund the habits.

The guardians of the nation’s work ethic are in despair, arguing that it threatens the republic, because it promotes luck and providence as the source of wealth, and not honest old-fashioned toil.

SH221 MILLION JACKPOT

Because Abisai’s Sh221 million jackpot win makes him perhaps the only modern-day Kenyan to earn that amount of money in a day, and without stealing it, it is a powerful story that will be hard to compete against.

Expect the already massive betting industry, and related parts of it such as the mobile money bet placements, to soar.

The attraction with betting, as opposed to gambling at the tables, is that the returns can be humongous for a very puny investment. Abisai wagered only Sh200.

ANYONE CAN WIN

But there is also a powerful democratic undercurrent to it. Anyone can win. Games of chance don’t know tribe, class, or gender.

There is no political or distributive process in Kenya that would have put Sh2 million, let alone Sh221 million, in Abisai’s pocket.

Still, it is as good a moment as any to reflect on the disproportionate role chance and the moods of the elements play in determining the lives of Africans and how much our governments, and other institutions, are still unable to tame fortune.

A few weeks ago, the newspapers were full of stories of how drought was wreaking havoc in parts of the country.

Emaciated hungry people, landscapes littered with skeletons of cattle that had died because they couldn’t get water and pasture, and denunciations of the government for failing to do enough to stop the suffering.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

This week, the story has swung 360 degrees. The rains have now come. Floods are sweeping away homes, bridges, roads, cattle, and a few children have reportedly drowned.

Soon, dams that were dry, will be threatened by high levels of water.

The big story in western Kenya has since January been the toll that the water hyacinth is exacting on Lake Victoria, and related fishing and water-bound economic activities.

This week there was good news on that front. Business on the lake is beginning to pick up. The water hyacinth has gone.

No, we didn’t finally find a way to kill the weed.

The answer to its disappearance was tucked away in the last two paragraphs of a story in the Daily Nation.

SCATTERED THE WEED

The rains, according to experts, had scattered the weed. Also, they said, the dry ones could have been soaked by rainwater and sank to the bottom of the lake.

It all reminded me of a story some years ago, after the finance minister in Mozambique, a country that suffers weather extremes, went to parliament to promise that the economy would bounce back in the new financial year.

Why was he optimistic? Because, he said, the meteorologists had forecast good weather for the coming year!

He did not base his projections on policy, planned investment, or scientific advancement. He had placed all his bets on the clouds.

So, perhaps, Abisai did much better. At least he went out and bet his Sh200 on a series of match outcomes.

The author is publisher of Africa data visualiser Africapedia.com and explainer site Roguechiefs.com. Twitter@cobbo3