Raila’s football boots too big to fill

“Following the demise of our long-serving club Patron, the Right Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga, and in order to avoid the vacuum created thereby, the Gor Mahia Executive Committee wishes to notify the general public, the football fraternity in general and Gor Mahia Football Club members, in particular, that the Deputy Patron, Hon. Eliud Owalo, will act at the Club Patron with immediate effect,” a statement from Gor Chairman Ambrose Rachier read.

Raila’s shocking demise on Wednesday brought to an end the life of an ardent football enthusiast who at one point turned out for Luo Union FC, a club that later merged with Luo Sports Club in February 1968, giving birth to present-day Gor Mahia FC.

Other prominent politicians who turned out for Gor Mahia FC include Chris Mogere Obure, the former Bobasi MP (2008-2013) and Kisii Senator (2013-2017), who is distinguished as the first non-Luo to turn out in the “K’Ogalo” green in 1968-69 after the Luo Union-Luo Sports Club merger.

Certainly, Raila’s boots as “K’Ogalo” Patron will be too massive to fit for anyone, his contribution to the club’s development, and to the Kenyan game at large, has been monumental and exemplary.

Read: Ida Odinga: My 52 years with Raila

Before the advent of multi-party democracy in Kenya, opposition politicians or leaders with dissenting political thoughts would use football platforms and seek refuge in the beautiful game to ventilate and spread their political agenda, hence the heavy involvement of Raila’s father, Kenya’s first Vice-President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and vocal trade unionist Tom Mboya in the affairs of Gor Mahia’s forerunners Luo Union and Luo Sports Club.

Former legislators Alfred Wekesa Sambu and the late Joab Henry Onyango Omino also cut their political teeth as chairmen of AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia, respectively, Omino having played football for Kenya before rising to become the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (1998-2002) while serving as Kisumu MP.

Omino, later Gor Mahia Patron, was also Kenya Football Federation (KFF) chairman between 1985 and 1996, and was an influential Executive Committee Member at the Cairo-based Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Sambu, on the other hand rose to the chairmanship of AFC Leopards, riding on this football platform to make it to the National Assembly as Webuye MP in 2007, as did other club football administrators including Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya and Cyprian Awiti who ascended to serve as Kakamega and Homa Bay Governors, respectively, after having sat on the executive committees at AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia.

Read: ‘Raila died in my arms’: Winnie says as Odinga children mourn father

Raila’s knowledge of football history was admirable, as he could dissect the history of the game with ease, detailing the contributions of some of the world’s greatest players in a fashion that would reduce seasoned journalists’ knowledge of the game to that of cub reporters.

“Brazil was a force those days, with such stars as Tostao, Jairzinho and Garrincha, while Africa also produced some of the greatest footballers, like this man Eusebio who was born in Mozambique but played for Portugal,” Raila dug into global football history at an engagement with Nation Media Group’s top leadership ahead on the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia which was televised by NTV.

Despite his solid love for Brazil’s national team, the “Selecao”, “Baba” - a fluent speaker of the German language - was also an ardent follower of Germany’s national football team, “Due Mannschaft”, perhaps largely influenced by his Cold War years at what is now the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg where he earned a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1970 while the institution was known as the Technical College of Magdeburg.

As his elder brother Oburu Oginga eulogised him, “Agwambo” was an all-round sportsman.

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“He used to do what we called ‘triple jump’… he used to play football and also pole vault, but I was better than him in jumping and pole vault,” Oburu told mourners at the Nyayo National Stadium farewell service.

Indeed, “Baba” was a pivotal member of the National Assembly football wing, Bunge FC, excelling in the heart of defence and at times forging upfront during his term as Langata MP.

His teammates were the likes of defenders James Orengo (Ugenya) and Mukhisa Kituyi (Kimilili), who traditionally played alongside “Agwambo” in the back four, with Mathew Adams Karauri (Tigania East) and Enock Magara (South Mugirango) the lead strikers as Mathias Keah (Kaloleni) kept goal.

“Baba” would, naturally, tag along his religious Gor Mahia support base whenever he travelled for Bunge FC games across the country.

Read: ‘A brother’s goodbye’: Uhuru Kenyatta’s warm farewell to Raila Odinga

In 1999, for instance, while on a revival phase, Nation FC invited Bunge FC for a friendly under the Impala Club floodlights in Nairobi, where the atmosphere turned electric when Bunge FC manager, National Assembly Speaker Francis Ole Kaparo, brought on “Baba” in the second half to a charged reception.

Each time he latched onto the ball, his supporters would yell at the Nation FC squad not to dare tackle him. “Achana na Baba! Hapana gusa Agwambo” -- "leave Baba alone! Don’t touch Agwambo'', they would yell as he made forays into the Nation FC half in the exciting match that ended in a 4-1 victory for a Nation FC side that also featured Wilfred Kiboro who had joined Nation Media Group as Managing Director in 1993 and who would retire in 2006 and later chair the Nation Media Group Board until June this year.

I was on the scoresheet on that memorable night and succumbed to Raila’s fan base, letting the stateman have his way with the ball under the Impala lights.

Raila’s wit while running football commentaries in his loaded political addresses will be missed.

His love for English Premier League giants Arsenal is also well-documented, the fallen stateman having made the pilgrimage to the Gunners’ Emirates home turf a few times.

“Yours truly here, and those who love football always sat together with Hon. Raila watching Arsenal, which was our team, and a team that he loved so much. Hon. Raila would not talk to anyone until the match is over,” National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula eulogised “Jakom” on Thursday.

“He will pay military attention to the game and he will count all the players up to the substitutes. Arsenal was in his blood as it is in mine. We have lost a great man, a great statesman,” Wetangula eulogised.

Read: ‘Jowi! Jowi!’: The cry that carried Raila home

Gor Mahia FC benefited multiple times from Raila’s largesse, the former Prime Minister digging into his pockets multiple times to bail “K’Ogalo” out of dire straits. The club will certainly miss his philanthropy and wise counsel.

“Kenya has lost a true national hero, a selfless, courageous, principled, and visionary freedom fighter whose indelible footprints are etched in every chapter of our nation’s struggle for freedom, democracy, good governance, and social justice,” Gor’s new Patron Owalo mourned “Baba.”

“Beyond our professional association, he was a father figure, confidante, and wise counsellor throughout my journey in both the private and public sectors, including in my role as Cabinet Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy and now as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Executive Office of the President. Most recently, I also had the honour of serving alongside him as his Deputy Patron of Gor Mahia Football Club.”

Indeed, the demise of “Tinga” is a heavy loss to Kenyan football and sport, generally.

The 90 minutes, plus stoppage time, are over and the final whistle has now gone.

Rest in peace, “Jakom”.

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