What the hell is going on at the den?

AFC Leopards fans react to match proceedings in a past match [Courtesy]

Ingwe is sniffing relegation.

So dire is the situation that a 16-man team dubbed ‘AFC Leopards rescue team’ has been assembled to salvage the 12-time Kenyan Premier League champions. Club Secretary General Oscar Igaida says the team’s priority is raising funds for operations and supporting the technical bench and players to stem the haemorrhage.

According to Richard Ekhalie, a rescue team member who is a former AFC Leopards CEO, their first objective is to quickly address problems facing players and the technical bench, rescue the legendary club from relegation and bring disgruntled fans back on board.

But some Ingwe officials read mischief in the whole operation. They say the rescue team is a campaign ruse by those seeking leadership in forthcoming elections and an unconstitutional coup against current club chairman Dan Mule who has been excluded.

Rachael Shebesh [Courtesy]

“Clearly that rescue team’s intention was to expel Dan Mule from the club management. Effectively, they’ve replaced him with Amahwa. I highly doubt they reached out to him (Mule). Unfortunately, the Secretary General of AFC Leopards Oscar Ogaida has joined the illegal team in order to throw out the chairman. It is against the club’s constitution,” Kadima told the Nairobian.

Ekhalie is one of the four front-runners in the race for AFC chairman in elections slated for June. The other contenders include businessman and politician Vincent Shimoli, Kakamega businessman, who came second to Dan Mule in the club’s last elections, Maurice Amahwa, and former club player Dan Shikanda. They’ve been assigned the roles of Elder, Chairman and Deputy Chairman in the rescue team respectively.

Other members include AFC Leopards Secretary General Oscar Igaida (serving in the same capacity at the Rescue team), treasurer Oliver Napali (serving in the same capacity), vice chairman Felix Sitsama (serving as a member), Oliver Sikuku (serving as a member), Peter Ouma (serving as a legend), Muhamood Abbas (serving as legend), Yvonne Khamati, former Nairobi County Women representative Rachel Shebesh, former CEO Ronald Namai (serving as a member), Gilbert Andugu (serving as a member), Tonny Lawrence Weche (serving as a member) and Kevin Mukokha (serving as a member).

Ekhalie, however, defended Dan Mule’s exclusion, saying he was nowhere to be found when the team, which former Deputy Secretary General Suleiman Angulu scornfully calls ‘Wakora’, was being formed.

“Dan Mule is not a member of the rescue team because as we speak, we don’t know his whereabouts. It is said he is in Zambia but we don’t know what he is doing there and why he is not near the team,” Ekhalie says.

We were unable to reach Mule for comment.

According to Kadima, the only people mandated to run club affairs is the chairman, the secretary general, and the treasurer and their assistants.

“It automatically means you’ve fired yourself, the moment you delegate that duty to somebody else. The only solution, according to the club’s constitution, is to call for a special general meeting and set a date for fresh elections because the current leaders have let down the club,” he said.

Kadima also took issue with the position of “Elder” insisting it has no mandate and is opposed to the inclusion of Rachel Shebesh, which he termed a ‘joke.

 “I’m shocked that Shebesh has been appointed to ‘rescue’ AFC Leopards. I remember in 2013, she was elected as a Club trustee, but she never stepped in the club office or attended a single committee meeting during her entire term. She did not contribute a single idea. So having her in the so called rescue team is a bad joke,” Kadima said.

Ingwe, a formidable club with a huge fan base, is a pale shadow of the giant it once was.