Pay day at Cecafa as employees receive six months of accrued dues

Pay-day has beckoned - finally - for employees at the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa) secretariat in Nairobi, following months of anticipation.

Goal can exclusively reveal the employees’ accrued dues, dating six months, were settled by the regional body's new secretary-general Auka Gacheo in Nairobi on Monday.

“Yes, we have been paid, and in full,” one of the employees who spoke off the record told Goal. “It was tough going for six months without pay and no explanation but that is now behind us. I hope the situation doesn't recur.”

The development comes three weeks after Goal exclusively laid bare the tribulations at the secretariat, including a rumoured financial crunch affecting the employees.

Those initially affected with delayed salaries include the competitions manager, head of protocol, office manager, messenger, and head of information systems.

“There have been no payments and no explanation from the secretariat. The situation is tough and Covid-19 has made it worse. We hope for an amicable solution to this situation,” the affected employee explained.

These payments were made a few days after member football association presidents met in Arusha to deliberate the way forward following a lull period.

The otherwise active regional body has not managed to organise a single tournament this season but Goal has reliably been informed it was agreed the men, U20 and boys U17 tournaments will be held in Tanzania and Rwanda respectively in November and December.

Cecafa witnessed a change in leadership at the start of the year, as long-serving secretary general Nicholas Musonye was replaced by Auka Gacheo, who is also a Kenyan, while Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) chairman Wallace Karia was elected to serve for a period of four years.

Cecafa was founded in 1927 and has the mandate to improve standards of football in the region. Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zanzibar are the member nations.

Uganda are the current Cecafa Senior challenge cup champions, winning the title in Kampala last year. Uganda’s KCCA FC are the Kagame Cup champions after winning the trophy in Rwanda while Kenya’s women's team Harambee Starlets are the champions in that category after they beat Tanzania in the final held in Dar es Salaam last year.