This man Musonye: The straight talking Cecafa chief says it as it is
What you need to know:
- A fierce defender of the regional football body, he has no kind word for those who cross his path
- Coaches, federations and fans have fallen afoul of the journalist-turned-administrator
Outgoing Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Secretary General Nicholas Musonye hit the headlines recently after he criticised Harambee Stars coach Francis Kimanzi as incompetent.
This is after the tactician called the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup that ended in Kampala last Thursday as a “Jua Kali” tournament.
Kenya failed to defend the title after going down 4-1 to minnows Eritrea in the semi-final. Kimanzi was banned for two group stage matches for allegedly leading a revolt by the Kenyan national team that led to a slight delay in the kick off of their game against Tanzania.
Several Kilimanjaro Stars team members did not have passports, which is the only valid document used to identify players in the tournament.
Musonye is not new to controversy. The straight-talking journalist-turned-football administrator is never afraid to speak his mind. Neither does he shy away from responding to people who dare criticise him or Cecafa.
Sample some of the responses he fired at critics.
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“Teams from the region that have lost and now claim they are not interested in the tournament can go to hell. We don’t need them. Those foreign coaches who come to Africa to waste their retirement, lose matches and then go back to their employers to tell them they don’t need Cecafa can as well go to hell,” he told former Gor Mahia coach Hassan Oktay who had said the Cecafa Kagame Cup as not a serious tournament on July 22, this year.
“What value are they adding to our regional football? They will soon meet the same teams in continental competitions.”
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"Kenyans don’t love football! They just like gossiping and drinking beer in bars during football matches!” Musonye fumed after Kenya hosted the 2009 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in near-empty stadiums.
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“I am surprised that such a coach who has had limited success in Africa is saying Cecafa is useless. If he wants to pull out the team from the tournament he can do so. Kenya has been finishing last in the tournament in the last few years and will not have an impact if they chose to ignore the tournament,” Musonye said in 2012 after the then Harambee Stars coach Henri Michel branded the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup a useless tournament
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"We are going on with our preparations for the tournament and will not miss Kenya at all. Their absence will be inconsequential because they do not add any value to us,” he said in 2012 after Football Kenya Federation (FKF) threatened to withdraw Harambee Stars from the Senior Challenge over his (Musonye) comments about coach Michel
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"Cecafa is not my company; I'm only their custodian as secretary general. If they want to kill Cecafa, let them do it. It's their baby, it's their organisation. Their mediocrity will continue as they watch other countries flourish in Afcon and other top competitions. Member associations of Cecafa don't even pay their annual fees - they don't pay participation fee either, they want to play for free,” Musonye lashed out to presidents of Cecafa members associations in 2017.
They were blaming him for the crisis at the body after it failed to host tournaments for two consecutive years.Musonye has announced plans to vie for Kakamega Governor.
