By Anderson Ojwang

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has launched investigations over alleged senior officers at Maseno University with fake academic papers.

The Commission is also investigating incidences of nepotism which are rampant at the institution.

Central Nyanza EACC Director Abraham Kemboi said they are investigating some senior officers holding key positions on account of fake academic documents.

“We are investigating senior officials who hold key positions on account of fake academic documents.
An institution of higher learning employing officers who have fake academic documents is a serious matter,” he said.

Kemboi said they are processing the suspects and appropriate action will be taken soon and they could possibly be charged in court.

Our investigations revealed one of the suspected senior officials at the university resigned recently to avoid being arrested by the EACC.

The senior officer must have been advised by some quarters to resign to evade arrest.

The senior officer is said to have scored Grade D+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and the university could not establish how the officer secured a doctorate.

Sources at the university revealed that the officer was being protected by a senior administrator at the institution and was untouchable even after questions were raised on the competence and performance in the sensitive department.

Maseno University Council Chairman Prof Omolo Ongati said there were allegations of some officers with fake academic documents holding key positions.

“We heard of an incident where an officer holding a key position was alleged to have fake academic documents. The officer has resigned and we will investigate if we have similar cases,” he said.

Kemboi said cases of nepotism in employment were rampant at the institution and they have launched investigations.

Sources at the university claimed employment opportunities were being distributed and shared among families and friends, leaving out deserving cases.

Kemboi said they have also launched investigations at Kaimosi Friends University over overpricing of a tuition block.

“We are investigating the university over a tuition block which they overpriced. We will take remedial action. These institutions should do what is expected of them,” he said.

By Anderson Ojwang

In the 1980s–1990s, when Kenya’s football and the rivalry between the country’s two most successful teams, the Mighty Gor Mahia and the dreaded Ingwe, AFC Leopards, ticked, three names dominated.

Eng Alfred Wekesa Sambu, also fondly referred to as Abiola in reference to Nigerian Chief Moshood Abiola, a Nigerian millionaire who founded Abiola Babes, which became a formidable side in African football. Sambu and Abiola shared one thing in common: deep pockets and love for football. They would spend anything for football.

While Sambu ticked at the Leopard den, at the Mighty Gor Mahia the late Job Omino, as the patron, while Douglas Oyieng Dola was the chairman, called the shots and Kenya’s football glowed continentally, regionally and at home. The national team Harambee Stars became mainly made up of players from K’Ogalo and Ingwe. That was when Kenya’s football reigned and ruled continentally.

Sambu in 1984 led AFC to the semifinals of the Africa Cup Winners’ Cup, losing to Leventis United of Nigeria on a 2–1 aggregate after having won the first match by a solitary goal.

In 1987, Omino and Oyieng Dola won the cup, later renamed the Nelson Mandela Cup in his honour, at the City Stadium on a 2–2 score on away goal advantage, and Kenya’s name became scripted in Africa’s annals of football history.

Veteran Sports Editor and Analyst Mr Robbin Toskin said Sambu’s contributions to Kenya’s football cannot be downplayed and he deserves a special place in the country’s annals of history.

“Sambu was able to galvanize AFC Leopards as a family. He brought the team to play at the top league. He scaled the heights and only lost at the semi-finals of the Africa Cup Winners’ Cup to Leventis United of Nigeria in 1986,” he said.

Toskin said Sambu built a strong team which consisted of Kenya’s internationals Dr JJ Masiga, Mohammed Abbas, Wellington Lidonde, Robert Matano, Wilberforce Mulamba, Josephat Murila among others.

“We had one of the best players in the team and AFC Leopards had deep squad depth. Sambu built something special for the team. Those sweet old days. Very memorable and momentous. The King,” he said.

Toskin said Sambu single-handedly bankrolled the AFC Leopards team, catering for all the expenses. His pocket was so deep for Ingwe, his boyhood team.

“For the domestic league and continental games, Sambu bankrolled the team. One day, the team was stranded at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and could not travel to Cameroon to play against Diamore FC. Sambu just drove to the airport, purchased the tickets and the rest is history,” he said.

During the World Bank structural adjustment program in Kenya, which saw several football players retrenched from employment, Sambu still catered for their salaries.

Gor Mahia dominance and unbeaten run

One of the key missions of Sambu was to break Gor Mahia’s dominance of the league and indeed AFC won the league with an unbeaten record.

Toskin said Sambu created an aura in the Leopards family that made them indomitable and a force to reckon with.

“Sambu broke the Gor Mahia dominance and for the first time in history AFC won the league with an unbeaten record. He is a good man with a deep heart and pocket. He motivated players and had his way with the fans and the players,” he said.

Toskin said Sambu negotiated very crucial player deals for the team and won their hearts by driving the targeted players in a Mercedes Benz, and that would conclude the negotiations.

Toskin said Sambu broke the age-long belief that AFC Leopards could not lure and sign a player from the Gor Mahia outfit.

“Sambu broke Gor Mahia’s heart by signing their midfield engine, John Okello Zangi, and this heightened the rivalry. It was a bitter pill for K’Ogalo fans to swallow. He made history,” he said.

KFF chairman

Football administrator Tom Alila said Sambu was a powerhouse in Kenya’s football administration and became the KFF chairman in 2004.

Sambu became the chairman with Dan Omino as the Secretary General, but with the boardroom wrangles in 2005, Mohammed Hatimy’s team dislodged them from the office.

Failure to professionalize AFC Leopards

Toskin said one area that became Sambu and Omino’s undoing for both AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia was the failure to professionalize the teams.

“They did not professionalize the clubs. They had the ability and power to help the clubs become professional but they opted to drain their own pockets, which was unsustainable in the long run,” he said.

Currently, AFC Leopards are emerging from the shadows and challenging for silverware against bitter rivals Mighty K’Ogalo. This season Ingwe registered a first-leg victory over K’Ogalo and have seen remarkable progress in the league and stand in position two behind Mahia.

Pipping K’Ogalo to the crown this season would be one of the best dream-come-true moments for Sambu.

By Anderson Ojwang

Despite the African continent being endowed with vast wealth, the ability to transform this opportunity has been negated by a lack of economic literacy.

Incoming Secretary General of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCGLA) Dr Francois Menguele said.

He said population is the basis of wealth creation and it’s unfortunate that 90 percent of the African population lack economic literacy.

“For realistic growth and development, economic literacy is important to help transform what we have in the physical environment into wealth. That is why a literate population is a vehicle to wealth creation and growth,” he said in an interview.

He said wealth was a transformational power and acquisition of skills will allow for the exploitation of the physical wealth present on the continent.

Menguele said through economic literacy it was possible and easy to turn the potential into wealth for the continent.

“We have the skills and capacity to see the potential. We are surrounded with wealth. But we have a situation where our youths leave the continent because they think there is nothing to gain. It is called lack of the eye to see the potential in Africa,” he said.

Countries that are resourced with human skills transformed the wealth.

What to do

He said it was important to commodify economic literacy so that it is possible to turn the abundant physical potential into real wealth.

“If you enable the people to have skills, it will make our tasks in wealth creation a possible venture. People who have minimum skills are able to create wealth,” he said.

He said various barriers and bureaucracy have undermined progressive growth and development in Africa and wealth creation.

“The barriers make our people go the informal way. We have barriers in the administrative system where various forms are expected to be filled before one gets service.

Barriers in the banking sector in the way of bank requirements for loans. There are barriers everywhere so this makes our people revert to the informal way of production,” he said.

The Secretary General said there was a need for minimum skills to understand the essentials of living together and caring about one another.

He said financial challenges, making the AU have to rely on donations, with many member states struggling to pay membership dues, were undermining wealth creation in the region.

“This failure is perpetuating itself and this is forcing foreign countries to bail out the continent. This explains why China is building wealth in Africa instead of Africans creating their own wealth,” he said.

Local Government

He said local governments are important vehicles in wealth creation and their recognition is a milestone in realising growth and development.

“If we as the advocates of local development, we need to add value to AU. We need to change the equation. We must rely on our own assets and build from them,” he said.

The SG said some of the valuable assets include the culture of saving and thinking about tomorrow and not purely consumerism.

“From independence in Africa’s context, the culture of saving is missing. We live in consumption and less on investments. We do not have savings.

We must build assets no matter whatever situation you are going to, we have the means to live and walk upright as Africans,” he said.

On territorial wealth, he said there was a need to strengthen the capacity to transform the physical potential into wealth.

“In the emerging context, we have to acknowledge local governments as value addition in development and wealth creation. AU acknowledges local government as a leverage to development.

Having a High Council of Local Authorities embedded in AU to use the charter as its own tool to structure conversation is crucial,” he said.

He said it was important to make development all-inclusive and that Africans in the diaspora should come and invest back home.

“We have many Africans in the diaspora who are successful. Let them come back, discover and add value to the local governments and opportunities,” he said.

The SG said African countries’ relationship with colonial powers is based on extraction where countries and localities with natural resources are being deprived of the resources for hundreds of years.

“They only pay for extraction. We must work on the equation that residents enjoy the proceeds. National governments need to restructure the contracts on mining with companies and this requires human capacity, skills and economic literacy.

Lack of skills and capacity has resulted in signed contracts that have become detrimental to the communities from which the resources are being extracted,” he said.

By Anderson Ojwang

Kisumu Governor Prof Peter Anyang Nyong’o will vie for the presidency of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA).

Nyong’o, who is currently the Vice President of the Eastern Africa region, is likely to be re-elected to the seat unopposed in today’s elections in Kisumu.

Nyong’o is seeking re-election as the Vice President of the region and is optimistic of winning the presidency.

Nyong’o will face opponents from South Africa while North Africa will be seeking re-election for the presidential seat.

Chief of Staff Mr Aloyce Ager said the East Africa region is currently meeting in Kisumu and includes 14 countries from the region namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Madagascar, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sudan.

He said the continent is divided into five regions namely Eastern Africa, West Africa, North Africa, South Africa and Central Africa.

He said the General Assembly is slated for March 22nd to 25th in Nouakchott, Mauritania and will discuss various issues and elections will be part of the agenda.

He said UCLGA is the umbrella body of local governments and cities, representing a membership of 320M Africans.

The body is run on the mirror image of the African Union (AU) government and has five regions with distinct leadership structures.

The structures start from the grassroots and move to the region, with each region referred to as a caucus.

“Before the General Assembly, the caucus convenes to discuss issues of the region and elect leaders from the region, who will seek leadership at the General Assembly,” he said.

He said people elected in this caucus will be eligible for election at the continental level.

The five Vice Presidents sit in the conclave to elect the President. The regions’ caucus hold elections every three years.

“It is at the General Assembly where major decisions of the organisation are canvassed. It is run through a Secretariat located in Rabat, Morocco,” he said.

The Executive Committee has the Vice Presidents as members.

In 2018, Kisumu lobbied to host the 2022 AFRI Cities, the 9th edition, a milestone in the development and growth of Kisumu City and put it on the world map.