Woes galore stalk Ingwe: AFC Leopards detained over unpaid hotel bills

AFC LEOPARDS-TEAM DETAINED;
AFC LEOPARDS-TEAM DETAINED; Afc Leopard's Fc team Bus nicknamed "ingwe" parked outside Jambo Village Hotel at Changamwe in Mombasa County on Wednesday,013th May,2015. The team who beat Bandari 2-1 in a premier league match at Mombasa County Stadium on Tuesday,012th may,2015 evening was detained at the hotel by the Management for failing to pay Sh.174,340 that catered for their accomodation and foods . But the Team officials inculding the driver of the Bus harrased,arm twisted and chased away Journalists from the Standard and Nation media groups who had entered the hotel premises to follow up the story.PHOTO BY MAAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD

AFC Leopards players and officials were yesterday detained at the Jambo Village Hotel, in Mombasa County over hotel bills after their 2-1 victory over Bandari on Tuesday.

The team, which checked into the hotel on Monday, was expected to check-out yesterday morning, but was locked up with the owners of the facility demanding the management of the Kenyan Premier League giants to fully offset their unpaid bills amounting to Sh174, 340.

However, in an interview with Feverpitch, Jambo Manager Eutropia Manga confirmed to have received part of the payment.

“The total bill is Sh174,340, but I can confirm that they have made partial payments for the two nights and meals. AFC Leopards are our regular customers and this is the first time such an incident is happening. We understand what they are going through, but we expect everything to be sorted out before the end of the day,” said Manga.

A senior AFC Leopards player, who sought anonymity, couldn’t hide his anger and frustrations at the incident. This comes barely a few months after the players boycotted training due to unpaid salaries and allowances following the suspension of Mumias Sugar sponsorship.

“Even after doing our duty by claiming the three points, our efforts have not been appreciated. We were supposed to check out this morning (yesterday), but the hotel management prevented us from leaving the premises. It is really embarrassing to be detained and everybody is disappointed with the situation. Actually, we don’t know when we will be traveling back to Nairobi,” said a senior player.

When contacted, AFC chairman Kasavuli said the players had not been detained instead the confusion was occasioned by a slight misunderstanding.

“There was some delay because all banks open at 9am yet the payments were to be done early in the morning,” said Kasavuli.

Kasavuli also dismissed reports that the journalists who had gone to visit the hotel had been roughed up by members of the team.

The Standard Group’s crew that consisted of Philip Mwakio, Francis Ontwomwa, Edmund Joab, Maarufu Mohamed and driver Joseph Katana found the going tough as they were physically ejected from the hotel premises.

Another photojournalist was also roughed up and forced to delete the pictures that he had taken and even the presence of AFC assistant coach Yusuf Chippo did not help cool matters.

“I have not received any reports that journalists were beaten up. What I know is that there seem to be too much negative energy even at the time when we need the fans most. What we need now is good stories that can help us bring back the fans in large numbers, let us help build Ingwe,” Kasavuli said.

Later yesterday, Cord leader Raila Odinga and Mombasa County Governor Hassan Joho had come to the rescue of the team.

As per Secretary General George Aladwa’s confirmation, the former Prime Minister and the Mombasa Governor had donated Sh100,000 each.

“We as the club management had anticipated to clear the hotel bills by Tuesday evening after our match against Bandari to enable the team travel back to Nairobi on Wednesday morning but faced some delays,” said Aladwa.

“AFC Leopards is experiencing financial difficulties due to the abrupt suspension of our sponsorship from Mumias Sugar. We then had to look for an alternative to settle the bill by Wednesday at 10am. This morning (Wednesday) club chairman Allan Kasavuli sent Sh70,000 to the hotel.

“I personally took the initiative to call Cord party leader Raila Odinga and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and both donated Sh100, 000 each to rescue the team.”

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