Who will take responsibility for Kenya Prisons’ miseries in Cairo?

Kenya Prisons players celebrate a point during the Africa Women's Club championship match in Cairo, Egypt. [Courtesy]

When Kenya Prisons ended Kenya Pipeline’s dominance in the Kenyan volleyball by claiming the 2018 national women league title, many expected them to replicate that performance on the continental scene.

However, that never came to pass due to various reasons ranging from the team’s shambolic travel arrangements to players’ mistreatment.

But the question lingering on the lips of many volleyball lovers in the country is what really went wrong for the five-time African club champions.

For the first time in many years, they failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the on-going Women’s African Club Championship in Cairo after a dismal show in the preliminary round.

Josp Barasa’s side shockingly finished third in Group D with only two wins from their four matches.

While Kenya Pipeline progressed to the last eight with an unbeaten record, they returned yesterday morning hiding their faces following a directive from the State Department for Correctional Services, Principal Secretary Zeinab Hussein.

Following their withdrawal, Prisons, who were scheduled to face off with Burundi’s USFA in a ranking match yesterday, risk sanctions from the continental body Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB).

The Ministry of Interior and Coordination through the State Department for Correctional Services issued a press statement absolving themselves from the team’s embarrassment that came from failure to pay hotel bills. But who cleared the team to travel for the tournament and paid their flight tickets?

“The State Department for Correctional Services neither cleared nor financed the team’s travel to Cairo and was surprised to learn of its presence outside the country,” said Principal Secretary Zeinab Hussein in a statement.

But being civil servants how did the players pass through the airport without clearance as alleged by the PS.

Interestingly, their bungled travel arrangements due to lack of funds saw the team fly out in two batches after delaying for two days. It was alleged that the concerned authorities had failed to process the team’s flight tickets on time.

Upon arrival, in Cairo, the team was booked at the Al Nabila Hotel. But after winning their two opening group matches against Ivory Coast’s Asec and Uganda’s Nkumba University, the hotel management threatened to evict the players over non-payment of bills.

The off the court issues went on to affect the team and they lost 3-1 to group winners GSP of Algeria.

And while the players, who were surviving in Cairo without allowances, absorbed their shocking defeat to Shams, the ministry instructed the Kenyan Embassy in Cairo to clear the team’s outstanding hotel bills and ordered it to return to Kenya.

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