An Open Letter to Sam Nyamweya

I wrote this artcle for The People Daily immediately after  Sam Nyamweya was elected; I have not met him, so it still holds. By suspending S. Sholei and D. Shikanda, he has not surprised me, I had a low opinion of his election. I have noted he also took FIFA to court, what is wrong with the two taking FKF to court?

Congratulations are in order Mr. Sam Nyamweya. You have fought a good fight and your efforts have been rewarded, you now sit at the helm of Kenyan football. We have waited for long as you tussled with FIFA and FKL, now you have the full loaf. Your efforts to take the untouchable FIFA to court came to naught, we thought you were out but here you are. You truly have nine lives like a cat so just get into business.

I watched you walk into City Stadium just before kick-off of Gor Mahia versus Sony Sugar match. You must have been shocked when you tried to greet the fans and the handful who tried to wave back were shouted down. You are a fighter-  that might not have caught your eye, if it did you were not bothered. It was a bad welcome, especially for a warrior coming back home after a victory. It spoke a lot about our fears as football fans, so please as you take office do not confirm our worst fears.

The ten officials elected last Saturday have a huge task ahead of them if you have to win the hearts of football fans. Only three were not in your pre election camp so we don’t expect much internal noise to stop you from working. The KPL representative for second vice chairman may not have been in your camp but the Executive Secretary is from your side. You have a good team or rather an army or band for the job. You will know why I refer to the officials in those three words.

The lukewarm reception last weekend may be a blessing in disguise. You know who most of us were rooting for so I won’t go there. Most fans have a low opinion of you, your history may have something to do with it but the future of football has a lot to do with it. We have a low expectation of the next five years you will be in charge of the game we love so much. This may be good for you because one mantra of customer care is under promise and over deliver. If go slightly above our expectations, you will win over most of us.

I know you have received a lot of unsolicited advice so It will not hurt if I add mine to it. Football is more than a sport that is why you have been fighting to take charge of it all these years. It elicits passion across all social-economic divides. It is a language, players and coaches express themselves through it. It is an art; the genius that takes us to the stadium and keeps us glued to our TVs is out of this world. It is a war- we are always going at each other strategically on the pitch, changing room and board rooms. Lastly, it is a sport, a beautiful game to be enjoyed for entertainment purposes.

For the next five years, try to speak to us in the football language, though it was invented in Britain and perfected in Brazil, I believe you understand it so well. It is a beautiful language and beautiful languages are simple. Football is a universal language with many dialects.

 Learning a new language is challenging in terms of the kinds of sounds that combine to form words. To learn another language therefore involves thinking in the language you know and translating it in your mind before you pronounce a word.  You won’t have the trouble of learning it, you have spoken the football language at all levels. You are at home with the idioms, sayings and proverbs. Let us hear you speak it to us often and clearly Mr. Chairman.

The art of football is beautiful to the artists and the beholders the world over. Like sculptors the managers and coaches shape a players mindset and physical ability. The players are like painters and weavers; they create patterns on the pitch daily that leave spectators yearning for more. Artists do not operate from the streets; they work in hibernation then exhibit their works to the highest bidder. Provide our football artists with a good environment to come up with and exhibit their wonderful artwork.

It is war and every match is a battle. The strategic lengths people go through to win a match and a title can make good fodder for ‘the art of war’ re-loaded. Before you pitch your camp, make sure your army has blended well. Sun Tzu writes in ‘the art of war’ that one is fit to lead an army on the march only if he is familiar with the face of the country—its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. None of the people you beat comes close to you in regard to knowledge of Kenyan football landscape; you have your job cut out for you.

We have been and will still converge in our stadia however dilapidated they are because football is an entertaining sport. Football fans will not expect you to be a comedian or to ask your committee to be a music band. What we would like to see is our monies, emotions and time spent worth. Entertaining football is played by happy footballers on good playing surfaces. Good football is simple football; simplification is not a product of simplistic minds but genius. For goodness sake surround yourself with great minds.

Lastly we don’t expect miracles from you anyway, you don’t always win every match in football so enjoy as well. Football has become a multibillion business but it is still a sport. Now you know why I said that your committee must be a team to play some good football, a band to entertain us and an army to fight the war that football has become. Amidst all these, it is still a beautiful game, the ball is at your feet. When you meet me let me know how it is going.