Kimanzi is 'incompetent', Musonye hits back

Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Secretary General Nicholas Musonye speaks during the Cecafa Congress on December 18, 2019 in Kampala. PHOTO | COURTESY |

What you need to know:

  • Remark on ‘Jua Kali’ regional tournament held in Kampala stirs hornet’s nest
  • War of words escalates between the Harambee Stars tactician and outgoing Cecafa chief

Outgoing Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Secretary General Nicholas Musonye has hit out at Harambee Stars coach Francis Kimanzi for calling the recently concluded Senior Challenge Cup held in Kampala a “Jua Kali" tournament.

Kimanzi complained about poor organisation of the tournament after national team Harambee Stars beat Tanzania 2-1 in the third place play-off match at the Lugogo Stadium on Thursday.

The tactician lamented about matches being played on artificial turf with little recovery time, “crazy Kampala traffic” and the few number of players each participating nation was allowed to have at the annual tournament.

Kimanzi was also unhappy that the tournament was played outside the Fifa calendar making it difficult for national teams to get players from clubs among other issues.

Defending champions Kenya were on Thursday humbled 4-1 by minnows Eritrea in the semi-final. Musonye believes that this triggered Kimanzi’s rant.

“Kimanzi has never won Cecafa since 2009 and he should not blame us (Cecafa Secretariat) for his misfortunes and incompetence as a coach. He has a record of being undisciplined. As a matter of fact, he is one of the poorest performing coaches in Cecafa,” Musonye told Nation Sport.

“If he is as good as he wants people to believe then he should have won the tournament. He lost fair and square to Eritrea and he should not blame the organisation for failing to defend the title,” he added.

“Fifa recognises Cecafa and that is why they support us to develop the game in this region. We are working hard to improve the standards of the game and we require support from all football stakeholders not mockery and baseless accusations."

Cecafa has in the past two years received Sh200 million from Fifa for the development of women and youth football plus administrative costs and has since been holding tournaments. Uganda won both the U-17 Women's Challenge Cup and Boys Senior Challenge Cup held in Uganda recently.

The regional football body held its General Assembly in Kampala on Wednesday and Tanzania Football Federation boss Wallace Karia was elected unopposed as the new president. He replaces Sudan Football Association boss Mutassim Gafar. Karia will serve for a four-year term.

The Secretary General’s position was scrapped and the incumbent, Musonye, said he would remain in office for a while to help in a smooth transition. He has already announced plans to vie for Kakamega Governor in 2022.

“I am happy with the achievements we have made during my tenure and the new team should do even more. I’m still around to help them settle,” he said.

South Sudan's Amin Francis and Eritrea's Esayas Abraha were elected vice-president while Jira Isayaa and Ssekamana Jean from Ethiopia and Rwanda were elected board members.

Cecafa has 12-member associations among them Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Ethiopia.