Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee: We can make the next soccer star

Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee with his wife and sons. [PHOTOS: PETER MUIRURI/STANDARD AND COURTESY]

Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee has been a coach of the national football team Harambee Stars for a while. Peter Muiruri caught up with him.

There might be many reasons why Jacob Mulee, one of Kenya’s well known football coaches carries the tag ‘Ghost’ in between his two names.

After waiting for him outside Nairobi’s City Stadium where he is scheduled to watch some of his charges play a friendly match, I receive a call from him inquiring about my whereabouts.

“Oh, are you still held up in traffic?” I ask him.

“No, I am seated on the stands inside the stadium,” replies the soft-spoken coach. Thinking that he is pulling my leg, I get inside the stadium only to find him relaxing on one of the concrete benches with the game in progress. I am outwitted!

“Don’t act surprised. After all, am I not a ghost?” he jokes.

Few assignments can be as difficult as interviewing a soccer coach in the backdrop of a game in which he has major interests. Yet, as he rightly said on the outset, anything is possible for a ghostly figure.

To any football enthusiast in the country, there is no doubt that Jacob Mulee loves soccer, an affection he cultivated since his childhood. It is a passion that often brought him into conflict with his mother who thought that the game was taking time that should be used to study.

“Taking football as a career was unheard of in this part of the world and was considered a waste of time. Children are encouraged to study hard and get good jobs. That may explain why football academies, common in developed countries, lack here,” says Jacob.

Jericho estate

Born 44 years ago and raised by a single mother in Nairobi’s Jericho Estate, Jacob lived under the constant stereotype that all bad habits are collected from Nairobi’s Eastlands. His desire was to prove pundits wrong.

As the sixth born in a family of eleven children, Jacob learnt to love from a very early age.

He says: “You see, my mother used to buy vegetables from Wakulima Market and resell them in our neighbourhood. She taught us what love is; since in such a large family, sharing the little we got was the key to survival.”

Even in such dire situations, Jacob’s love of sports was unstoppable.

At St Michael’s Primary School, Nairobi, Jacob honed his soccer skills. At Ofafa Jericho High School, he again played both as a striker and goalkeeper. As a player who also dubbed as the school team captain, Jacob helped the team win the then Kadenge Cup in 1981. His passion for the game was rising by the day.

His exploits in the field spread to neighbouring schools where many just could not match his speed and ball control, hence earning the nickname ‘ghost’. One of his ardent opponents was presidential candidate Peter Kenneth, who was the goalkeeper for Starehe Boys’ Centre soccer team then.

“We suffered one of our worst defeats at the hands of Kenneth and his team. The 4-1 loss was so bad that my teammates thought I had been bribed to let in goals,” recalls Jacob.

Interestingly, Jacob had thought of switching to athletics at some point. The odds stacked against this move were, however, quite daunting. As he says, running against some of Kenya’s legendary runners was no easy task.

“What chance did I have running against people like Billy Konchellah?” he quips.

Upon completing school, Jacob played for several teams such as Iqbal FC in Divison 2 and later on Volcano FC. He later joined the league of big boys, playing for Re-Union.

His longest stint so far has been with Tusker FC, running from 1989 to 2002. As the coach, he would go on to win three Kenya Premier League titles and three Kagame cups with the team. Jacob had short stints with the APR club of Rwanda and Yanga FC of Tanzania.

But it is his exploits with the national team that made him a household name. It may as well be a love-hate relationship with the national team.

Last call of duty

He first took charge of the team between 2003 and 2004, preparing it for both the African Cup of Nations and Cecafa. He later had a one-day coaching job in December 2005, then another stint in Mach 2007. His last call of duty for the national team was in September to December 2010. He quit after discouraging results with the team.

“We always blame an individual, but Kenya still lacks proper structures for the development of the game. Although we now have only one federation, there is still no development of the game from the grassroots. The athletics body has a system of identifying future champions from an early age. Why not football?” poses Jacob.

According to the veteran coach, if Fifa’s four-year plan for every footballing country is strictly followed, much can be accomplished.

“There should be a system of coaching the coaches if they are to pass on vital skills to the players. Kenya has the talent but is poorly exploited.”

Jacob is also appalled that every election year, politicians come up with colourful manifestos that include good ideas on development of soccer yet no one ever follows up on them once the elections are over.

In 2008, Jacob set up Liberty Sports Academy to help nurture soccer talents in young people. The academy has three arms; the under-12, under-15 and under-20. The academy is patterned after similar academies in Ghana and Togo that run by the same title. Jacob applies a holistic approach to training the boys, not just concentrating on soccer skills.

“We mentor the entire individual and call in professional motivational speakers to talk to the team. The boy child too, needs guidance in life. I believe we have what it takes to train the next football star. Michael Essien and Asamoah Gyan are products of the Liberty Academy in Accra, Ghana. We too can do it here,” says Jacob.