Drama as Captain Harambee Stars Wanyama declines CS Wario‘s handshake

CS Hassan Wario

NAIROBI: On Monday November 16 at 7.30pm, tension was almost palpable at the Wilson Airport’s departure lounge. As the propellers of the chartered 50-seater Bombardier Dash 8 – an aircraft operated by Skyward Express Limited – turned furiously, a different kind of fury was brewing at the lounge.

A few home-based Harambee Stars players, who were busy tucking their hand luggage in overhead lockers, froze as word filtered in that their trusted general, Victor Wanyama, had declined to board the plane. Outside the departure lounge, Cabinet Secretary for Sports Hassan Wario had his hand extended to a motionless Harambee Stars captain, Wanyama.

Wario had arrived late, having been traced through his bodyguard’s cell phone. According to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s personal friends – Billy Arocho, Hashim Kamau (Minority Leader in the Nairobi City County Assembly) and Mugo Kanyi (Nairobi City County MCA) – the Cabinet Secretary could not be reached on his cell phone. The three were part of the delegation to Cape Verde.

Arocho made contact with Patrick Ngatia, the Director of Liaison in the Political Office at State House, alerting him of the deteriorating situation at Wilson Airport.

It was when Skyward Express staff started removing the Harambee Stars sticker from the plane at around 4:30pm that Arocho made a phone call and could be heard talking to an “Excellency”.

“Something is being done,” Arocho said after the phone call. After two hours or so, CS Wario appeared at the airport.

Somehow, almost 10 hours of push and pull ended after FKF President Sam Nyamweya borrowed the Sh9.5 million shortfall – apparently from the Federation’s bankers, Family Bank – at 7pm.

But Wanyama would not close the deal with the CS just like that. It could amount to betrayal – the prized Southampton star midfielder may have thought. Besides, “the quiet leader” as his assistant coach Musa Otieno would describe him to FeverPitch, was under duress.

Wanyama had received a call from his English club asking him about his safety following information in mainstream and social media of an “inferior” aircraft meant to cover 6,870km and back.

Southampton also demanded to know whether the players were insured. The English club asked to change Wanyama’s flight to Cape Verde, but Wanyama would not abandon his teammates at the hour of need.

Friends and family and sympathetic journalists with direct contact with the players, too, it emerged, were urging the captain and other players to decline boarding the plane until their safety was assured.

Yet Wanyama, with a senior government official standing in front of him beseeching him to board the plane, had to make a decision.

“The President (Uhuru Kenyatta) has sent me to wish you all well. Please Victor, shake my hand. The Government is fully behind you and your teammates,” Wario could be heard telling the Kenyan captain, with his eyes firmly fixed on the young leader while assuring him things would get better.

A lot had been going on behind the scenes prior to this day.

At 5:36pm on Friday, the Ministry of Sports had issued instructions to the Central Bank to wire Sh17million to FKF towards the payment of outstanding player allowances, accommodation and a down payment for the chartered flight.

On Monday, the players had refused to leave Kasarani before allowances dating back to both legs of their matches against Mauritius and Cape Verde were paid. The allowances and ticket refunds were finally settled at 11:30am. But another problem, that of flight, awaited them at the Wilson Airport. FKF officials were in a fix as Skyward Express had declined to fly to Cape Verde without full payment of the cost.

According to FKF, they accessed the Sh17million at 9am on Monday. And after paying Sh3.4m of outstanding allowances, Sh3.6m (ticket refunds), Sh2.3million accommodation (home and away) and Sh7.7million for flight deposit, they were still Sh9.5million less as Skyward Express wanted their $165,000 in full.

Not even a letter of commitment written and signed by Sports Principal Secretary Richard Ekai at 2pm on Monday would convince Skyward Express.

“We didn’t want to take chances,” explained Mohamed of Skyward Express. “Once we learnt the Government and FKF had not even settled what is owed to Fly 540 and now all the noise around player allowances, we could not relent. The cost of fuel and landing fees in the various countries had to be paid,” Mohamed.

Eventually after 20 minutes of a tensed conversation at the tail end of a 10-hour stand-off, Wanyama made it clear, albeit softly, that the players are unhappy with the whole scenario.

“It cannot continue like this. We need to have a serious talk. Serious talk,” Wanyama said as he slowly but reluctantly extended his hand to close the deal.

There was almost an audible sigh of relief amid the noise from the propellers as the hands clasped.

And at exactly 8:43pm, the Bombardier Dash 8 under the experienced crew of Capt. Mohamed Mohamed, Capt. Aziz M Didarali, Capt. Feisal M Mughal, Ray Kombo (Flight purser) and Victor Gathiru (Flight Engineer) took to the night sky headed to Kampala (Uganda) for refueling stopover to enable it make a 7-hour flight to Kano (Nigeria) then to Dakar (Senegal) and finally Praia in Santiago Island of Cape Verde.

The takeoff had ended an exasperating 10-hour stand-off and only ushered the players into a journey of uncertainty in the sky, crammed in a plane with limited legroom ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifying tie.