Mary Auma, the mother of former Harambee Stars captain Dennis Oliech has come to his defence saying that the ex-Ajaccio, Nantes and Auxerre striker is not broke.
Oliech’s financial status was the subject of discussion in the past week after a photo of a ‘frail looking and unkempt’ former Al-Arabi striker appeared on social media, leaving a section of Kenyans to conclude that Oliech is broke.
Oliech lived a lavish life during his heydays where he was reported to have earned as much as close to Sh400 million in salaries in 2013 alone.
But the mother has now jumped in to defend the son while at the same time accusing Kenyans of being unappreciative of mocking Oliech and forget his contribution to the nation.
“It is very unfortunate Kenyans are accusing my son of being broke and living a pathetic life, yet he is the one who at one point raised the Kenyan flag high when his goal helped Stars to qualify for their last Africa Cup of Nations event in 2004,” Auma was quoted by The People Daily.
At the same time, the mother, a cancer survivor, explained that Oliech used a lot of money on her treatment.
“Oliech used a lot of money to help me battle Lymphoma Cancer a condition which I had been struggling with for over eight years and if it was not attended to immediately I would have died.
“Kenyan doctors had failed to treat me of my disease and that is why Oliech decided to fly me to France for specialised treatment at one of the best medical centres in Paris.”
Oliech’s goal sent Kenya to the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations finals and he received a heroic status when he turned down an offer from Qatar to change his citizenship for Sh200 million.
