Whenever the Kenya national football team (Harambee Stars) loses a game, many Kenyans are quick to call them names like "Luo Fc", "Omena United", "Jaruo team (sic)", "Kisumu boys" etc. And there are yet others who are quick to point out that the team doesn't represent the face of the country. These allegations resurface over and over again on social media but many people just brush them aside as not deserving of any attention. Those who attempt a reply only point out that national teams are not "constitutional offices" and therefore the representation of every region of the country is not required by law. But on the back of the Four Nations Tournament held in Malawi in 2024, these allegations became too loud to be ignored. Maybe there really is unfairness in team selection in Kenyan football after all. Maybe Luos and Luhyas are unjustifiably favoured. Let's dig in deep into this.
Looking at the Harambee stars squad - both senior and juniors- that represented Kenya at the Four Nations Tournament in Malawi in 2024, I couldn't deny that there was an over-representation of Luos and Luhyas. As a matter of fact, I don't remember seeing even a single Somali, Kisii, Kamba, Kikuyu or Kalenjin name on the team-sheet despite the fact that those four tribes combined make up about half of Kenya's population. During the Harambee stars games that were streamed live by KBC on youtube, the comment's section was flooded by allegations by irate Kenyans of favoritism, tribalism, "cartelism" and biased selection. "Gatekeeping" by some powerful individuals from certain communities was cited as the sole reason why players from other regions do not get called up to the national team. Some people felt, and justifiable so, that players from their tribes or regions had been overlooked for selection. But is this really the whole truth?
The domination of a sport by people of particular tribe, race, community or even family is nothing new. There is not a single sports team in Kenya which actually has the face of Kenya represented; Cricket has an over-representation of Indians, athletics is dominated by Kalenjins, rugby is dominated by Luos and Luhyas and swimming is dominated by whites and Indians. Football is no exception. Why then is football treated differently? Why do people constantly demand that the face of Kenya must be represented (only) in our football teams and not any other sport? The reason lies in the simplicity of football. It is a game that involves kicking a round ball with the aim of making it cross a line between two post 24 feet apart and 8 feet high. Most people believe they can do it. It's the only sport any bloke down the road thinks they can be good at. The difference between a great football player, an average player and a mediocre player is not immediately obvious to the average fan. You see, in athletics, the difference between Ferdinand Omanyala and Uhuru Kenyatta is so pronounced, so plain for everyone to see. This is not so obvious in football. The average fan in Isiolo will think he's better than Michael Olunga. A mtumba seller in Kirinyaga will think he is at least as good as Earnest Wendo. But is this so? Obviously not. This is where tournaments, leagues and friendly matches come to our rescue. Because competitions have a habit of separating the best from the rest.
The Safaricom Chapa Dimba has been held annually for many years now. It is an under-17 national football tournament for boys and girls that attract teams from all over Kenya. The competition has for ages been dominated by teams from Western and Nyanza and I think just one team from the Rift Valley-Western border. Why is this so? It's hard to make an allegation of favouritism in a corporately sponsored tournament but the those who believe that Luos and Luhyas are favoured will claim this to be the reason for the two region's dominance of the tournament. Benson Omala, now playing professional football at Gor Mahia, was once a top scorer and best player at the Chapa Dimba while playing for a Kisumu-based side. The two most successful clubs in Kenya are two community based clubs for Luos and Luhyas. The odds seem to be stacked against anyone hell-bent to prove that the only reason other regions in Kenya aren't that well represented in the national football teams is because of tribalism.
Talenta Hela Tournament was a government-sponsored under-19 national football tournament that was held for the first time this year (2024). I bet that you wouldn't guess which teams won the boys' and girls' categories but I'm certain that you can guess from which part of Kenya the winners came from. The boys' category was won by Homa Bay county team which beat Kisumu (also from Nyanza) in the final. The girls category was won by Busia (from Western) which also beat Kisumu (from Nyanza) in the finials. In the unlikely case that you missed it, the top four teams in the country featured three teams from Nyanza and one from Western. There was no team from Central, Coast or Rift Valley in the quarter finals in both the boys' and girls' categories despite the fact that all counties were represented at the beginning. It is the same regions (Nyanza and Western ) which consistently win school football tournaments, and other national tournaments. When was the last time a team from North Eastern Kenya or Ukambani win the Safaricom Chapa Dimba or the Talanta Hela Tournament? The top scorer in the boys category in the Talanta Hela 2024 Tournament was Austine Odongo of Busia County (Western) followed by Cecil Miller of Homa Bay (Nyanza). The top scorer in the girls' category was from Kisumu county. Could it be that our brothers and sisters from these two regions are just a little bit more talented than the rest of us? Or do they have a passion for the sport that some don't? One must wonder. Yet, lest we forget, many Kikuyus, Kalenjins, Kambas, Mijikendas and Kenyans of all walks have over the years proudly and ably represented Kenya in international football.
How about "cartelism" and gatekeeping? Are there Luo/Luhya cartels that run our football and influence player selection to our national teams? Well, Harambee Stars' coach is a foreigner ( he's Turkish, neither a Luo nor Luhya) and the head of FKF (Nick Mwenda) is a Kamba. It is difficult to see how a Turkish man and a Kamba man could conspire to fill out our national team with Luos and Luhyas at the expense of other Kenyan tribes. Favouritism, tribalism and "cartelism" cannot explain why, for example, most of the Kenyan footballers who play or have played professional football in Europe's top five leagues are predominantly Luo and Luhya. You'll find names like MacDonald Mariga, Victor Wanyama, Dennis Oliech, Mike Okoth Origi and Joseph Okumu, to mention but a few. Why aren't there any Kalenjin, Kamba or Kikuyu names in there? Do European teams also favour Luos and Luhyas? Kenya has only on very rare occasions had a Luo or Luhya as a head coach of the Senior National Team, Harambee Stars. In the recent past, we have had Ghost Mulei and Francis Kimanzi (both of them Kambas) as head coaches and still the team was dominated by Luos and Luhyas. I can't remember the last time a Luo or Luhya person was the chairman of FKF or KFF. The current chairman of FKF is Nick Mwendwa (a Kamba) and the immediate former chairman was Sam Nyaweya ( a Kisii). And still Luos and Luhyas dominate our football teams regardless of who the coach or the FKF president is! The list of Kenya's all-time leading scorers in our domestic league and national team tells the same story: Luo-Luhya hegemony.
We must, however, stress the point that football - like any sport - must not be a reserve of one or two tribes or regions at the expense of the rest of the country. Even as the Western and Nyanza brothers excel in the sport, effort must be made to ensure that the other regions have a fair shot of being selected in the National team. And that is what the Talanta Hela and Chapa Dimba tournaments are for! Additionally, the national government seems to have prioritized Rift Valley and Central regions for the development of sporting infrastructure and hosting of sporting events at the expense of Nyanza and Western. Nyanza region still grapples with lack of sporting facilities despite being the bedrock of the country's football and rugby talent. Yet no one is even complaining!
Yet, lest we forget, many Kikuyus, Kalenjins and Kenyans of all walks have over the years proudly and ably represented Kenya in international football.
The question we should be asking is why the Luhya-Luo domination of Kenyan football even exists in the first place. My attempt at an answer is: passion for the game. Passion is something you cannot teach. Talent can be sharpened through training but as for passion, you either have it or you don't. Luos and Luhyas just love football. They're not in it to make money or for fame. The region has hundreds of football tournaments most of them sponsored by their politicians and businessmen that help in talent identification and development. Many Luo and Luhya parents even go as far as to enroll their kids in football academies at a young age, something that is completely unthinkable for our people in Central, Rift Valley or Coast region. Many foreign-born Luos and Luhyas always try to come back and play for Kenya (Daniel Anyembe, Taiwo Atieno, Jonah Ayunga,Clarke Oduor, Tyler Onyango etc). Why is this so? Why aren't so many foreign born Kisiis, Kikuyus, Pokots, Mijikendas and Kalenjins doing the same? The answer again is: passion. Some of us are not just as interested in the sport as Luos and Luhyas are.
But why, you may ask, were Andrine Kibet and Tyrone Kariuki not not selected in the under-20 team that played the Four Nations Tournament in Malawi? For those who raised this issue, the only explanation was tribalism or favouritism. The fact of the matter, however, was that Andrine Kibet was away in Spain with Nastic Sports Academy, and Tyrone Kariuki was actually in the team that flew to Malawi. Kariuki may have missed the games because of an injury or a strain- only the coaches know. No one even bothered to ask where Austine Odongo was (Talanta Hela top scorer). Unlike Tyrone Kariuki, Austine wasn't even selected, yet no Luhya cried fowl. It would be petty to say that they were not selected because of tribalism. No coach would freeze out the best players he has at his disposal- at the risk of losing matches and facing fan's backlash - just because he favours a players from a particular tribe. And, for the record, the Kenya under-20 football team coach (Salim Babu) isn't even a Luo! We may be disappointed about the Junior Stars' performance at the Four Nations Tournament but that was not our best team. It was without Kibet and his Nastic counterpart ,Wanjala, not to mention Austine Odongo, Cecil Miller and Tyrone Kariuki.
So, after all is said and done, we may not like the fact that Luos and Luhyas dominate our football, but calling it tribalism is certainly not the cure.
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