Let new KRU boss turn around the sport

Finally, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) following the election of Geoffrey Oduor Gangla. The former KRU Secretary General beat his closet contender Alexander ‘Sasha’ Mungai after garnering 33 votes to his opponent’s 20. Oduor now has a huge task to turn around the sport which has been on the brink with the Sevens team on the verge of being relegated from the world series after a poor performance. One of his first and most urgent tasks is to ensure that the senior Kenya Shujaa players resume duty starting with next month’s Hong Kong Sevens. 

Fourteen seasoned players have not taken part this season over contractual wrangles with KRU. Their absence has proved costly as the side is yet to reach cup quarter-finals of the IRB Series, six legs into the campaign. Another urgent task will be to ensure that the current financial crisis is quickly sorted out. KRU has not had a sponsor since betting firm SportPesa pulled out and this has serverly affected the performance of national teams and something needs to be urgently done.

There was a time that KRU used to attract plenty of support from the corporate sector but this is no longer the case. One of the reasons is due to the constant wrangles that had bedeviled the union owing to leadership wrangles. With elections done, it is hoped that the union will work with a common purpose to end steer the sport to greater heights.