RINGSIDE VIEW: Kick out these lousy Gor Mahia officials

The current goings-on at Gor Mahia have confirmed, for the umpteenth time, what has been an open secret for half a century of the club’s existence; that K’Ogalo - like many football entities in this country - is a club largely managed by crisis.

There is a school of thought that even argues that successive office bearers at the club have thrived in the perpetual administrative chaos and financial disorder which could as well be the club’s byname.

Things have boiled over following the team’s meek capitulation to Moroccan side RS Berkane in Nairobi last weekend.

And as you would expect, the club’s hierarchy, led by chairman Ambrose Rachier, has found a convenient excuse in a far-fetched conspiracy theory, which many sceptics – yours truly included – are highly unlikely to buy.

Truth is, the noisy upheaval at the club, which we are presently being treated to, is actually a creation of the club’s inept officials.

Speaking of officials, perhaps Rachier should consider a complete overhaul of his own office before even contemplating the ‘drastic action’ which his mouthpiece Ronald Ngala has threatened the players with.

For too long, there has been a glut of busybodies, idlers, hangers-on and ne'er-do-wells masquerading as club officials.

To put it mildly, the club office is bloated with redundancy. Worse, other than hauling insults and engaging in inane outbursts on social media, a majority of these meddlers know nothing about running a football club.

That is why for the longest time successive office bearers have been running the club like a roadside kiosk.

Which perhaps explains why a good number of these imposters went into a panic mode recently when news came through of an intended wilting down of elective positions in the club’s secretariat.

It’s a tragedy that slightly more than half a century since its formation, Gor Mahia is a club that has been badly ravaged by a pervasive cash cow mentality.

No wonder Rachier and his dozens of club officials keep walking around town with their begging bowls. And why would they not, when time and again the begging bowls have come in handy?

Of course this begging culture has been duly been abetted by the political Sonkos of this world who have never been in short supply in this country.

Which the begs the question , for how long must a club of Gor Mahia’s stature and pedigree live off pennies from politicians whose real intentions is to ride on the club’s tattered brand name?

One Tom Osanjo - he of the K'Ogalo Corner fame - who also writes on this space, has never tired of offering his wise counsel, at times even admonishing the club officials, on the best practices of running a football club.

Sadly, Osanjo, all his good intentions notwithstanding, could as well be flogging a dead horse – this is a club that thrives on crisis.

Thankfully, with the Berkane debacle, the club leadership has been exposed for what it really is - a bunch incompetent individuals who will not stop short of milking the cash cow of its last drop of milk.

The chicken have finally come home to roost and now the centre cannot hold.

A good starting point to resolving the current impasse, though, would be to kick out the current officials first and fast, before even considering a disbandment of the playing unit.