Gor Mahia have now cracked the whip by suspending club secretary Sam Ocholla after he allegedly wrote a letter to endorse Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and StarTimes deal without consulting other officials.
K’Ogalo chairman Ambrose Rachier has confirmed the suspension of the official, who was only elected to office on August 8, 2020, and further said it had the blessing of the club’s patron Raila Odinga.
“We have suspended our secretary Sam [Ocholla] pending his explanation in regards to the letter he wrote to StarTimes purporting to endorse the deal with FKF, but if he gives satisfactory defence we will lift it,” Rachier told a press conference in Nairobi on Tuesday.
“What he did was wrong, he went behind my back and the club’s members to write the letter, I have a strong feeling he was ‘bought’ by FKF to do the act, we will have him suspended pending investigations and even the club patron Odinga is aware of the decision.
“Gor Mahia constitution is very clear that only the chairman can write such a letter, but he never consulted me, nor any other member of the team, he did it on his own and that is the reason he must carry his own cross, if he knew what he did was right, why has he switched off his phone?
“Our stand as Gor Mahia on the matter at hand remains the same, we have not signed the deal, we have not endorsed the deal and I have in my capacity as the chairman of the club written to StarTimes to withdraw the endorsement as per the letter from Ocholla.”
Asked why Gor Mahia are reluctant to sign the pact, Rachier said: “As clubs, we have the rights for TV, and for now we cannot sign something we have not seen, none has seen what the deal entails.
“I asked the FKF lawyer whether he has seen the papers, and he told me he has not, we cannot sign things blindly, it is not possible, you can only sign something that you have seen, read, and agreed with it.
“No one has seen the contract between FKF and StarTimes, no club chairman, no legal officer has seen the deal but only the FKF President and his office, why should we sign such a deal.”
Apart from Got Mahia, other teams that have not signed the deal include Ulinzi Stars, Zoo FC, and Mathare United.