Nothing could be more serious and scaring than the selective exploitation of Kenyan sports stars that have done the country proud in team and individual international competitions. Section 55 (d) of the constitution protects the youth and any other Kenyan against unfair treatment and exploitation but many except one are not aware of those rights and get exploited by private companies in collusion with sports administrators.
Dennis Oliech, the national soccer star grabbed headlines in a protest against use of his picture to promote alcoholic brands of East African Breweries Limited (EABL). Football Kenya Limited (FKL) and EABL struck a deal to use Oliech’s picture in an advertisement without authority or payment of a cent for the same. Oliech is the only hero to say enough is enough and said to hell with the Kenyan national team. He announced that he was to quit playing for the team in international competition unless the authorities reward him for the use of his picture in promoting a product of private company.
This announcement drew the wrath of many including media. Unless fussy Kenyans are oblivious of history, their claims about Oliech’s betrayal are far from the truth. There is no patriotic Kenyan than the footballer. It can be recalled that unlike other Kenyan sports stars, Oliech turned down an inducement with big money to change his nationality to a Qatari citizen when he played professional football in the country that has poached many Kenyan athletes. Consequently, the player left Qatar for France where he plays in premier league club, Auxerre.
Some Kenyan sportsmen changed their nationality because of the ill-treatment and neglect back home after winning medals for the country in international games including the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. Oliech like any other sports hero, should enjoy protection under the new constitution and was within the confines of those rights to complain against exploitation reminiscent to injustices meted out to some compatriots working abroad.
Unlike compatriots in the soccer world, Kenyan star athletes clinch lucrative contracts with companies eager to advertise their products through sports. Pamela Jelimo, the 800 meter world Golden League champion like David Rudisha, another 800 metre world record holder are cases in point. Sports minister, Paul Otuoma concurs and disagrees with the complaints raised by Oliech. It is not easy to reward individuals in a team sport but rather simple with stars in athletics. That is the problem the ministry and KFF could be having with Oliech who is not aware that benefits accruing should be shared amongst players in the national team .
The minister admitted that the shs 110 million contract between the beer company and the Harambee Stars Management Board endorsed by the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) includes the use of individual stars pictures and that of the national team in advertising their brands. The money from the three year contract is used for paying salaries, allowances, accommodation, and transport during the games and training, purchase of uniform and training equipment.
If the minister’s words are anything to go by, then all of us are lost and would seek further explanation on the case of soccer stars. When did Oliech get his share of the benefits? Similarly, the KFF could not reimburse transport cost of another soccer star, Macdonald Mariga from Italy to Nairobi where he had turned up for a match between Kenya and Malawi in Nairobi in an African Cup of Nations qualifier. Mariga’s picture advertises Guinness beer brand in television and I wonder if he gets a penny.
Some of the sportsmen and women who have brought glory retire in squalor in a country that boasts of neglecting her own heroes and heroines. Sports heroes don’t get what they deserve like recognition and decorations when little known sporting nations celebrate victories even bronze medalists in international games. Streets and playgrounds in Kenya are named after obscure political figures instead of our sports legends.
When will the government wake up to protect our sportsmen and women who earn this country millions if not billions of shillings in direct remittances? Isn’t it time that we accord these truly national heroes who have time and again sold our country’s flag at international meets and incentives as a form of gratitude and motivation?
I am yet to see the top leadership of this government join jubilant relatives and friends of our sports legends in welcoming them warmly at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on arrival back home like they do in political homecoming rallies when one lands a ministerial job. Will our sports ambassadors to the London Olympics be treated casually as the case has been when they return home with baskets full of gold, silver and bronze? Only time will tell.
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