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. I had heard these allegations many times before but I sort of just brushed them aside as not deserving of any attention. But my experiences with the Four Nations Tournament woke me up a little bit. Maybe there really is unfairness in team selection in Kenyan football after all. Maybe Luos and Luhyas are unjustifiably favoured.
Looking at the Harambee stars squad - both senior and juniors- that represented Kenya at the Four Nations Tournament in Malawi, 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 at least 60% 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 and biased selection. Some people felt, and justifiable so, that players from their tribes or regions had been overlooked for selection.
The question we have to ask ourselves is: are these allegations justified? One may point out that no sports team in Kenya actually has the face of Kenya represented; Cricket has an over-representation of Indians, athletics is dominated by Kalenjins and swimming is dominated by whites and Indians. One could also point out that national teams are not "constitutional offices" that require the representation of every region of the country but let's not go that direction. How about the allegation that Luos are favoured above everyone else by our coaches? Because one may point out (and they have) that in athletics there are national trials and the team that eventually is selected is chosen based only on merit, but how about football? We haven't had national trials to pick our teams. Well, no country does national trial to select or call up players. Does that mean that our coaches simply pick Luos? I disagree. There are hundreds if not thousands of Luos out there who play football, how does he then pick his team?
We may not know how coaches go about picking or calling up players but I dont think tribalism has anything to do with it. There are scouts. There are statistics. There are trials at club level, and there are hours upon hours of footage to review. Coaches pick players based on these even though they (the players) may belong to a minority race or tribe, clan and even family. The French National Football Team is dominated by black players in a white majority country. The NBA is dominated by blacks. Basketball teams in Africa have an over-representation of South Sudanese players. And our sport is no different. Think about this for a second: Harambee Stars' coach is a foreigner ( he's Turkish, not a Luo) and the head of FKF (Nick Mwenda) is a Kamba. Explain how a Turkish man and a Kamba could conspire to fill out our national team with Luos and Luhyas at the expense of other Kenyan tribes.
Before we rush to conclude a Luo-Luhya favouristism, maybe we should stop and ask ourselves whether the Luo - Luhya domination of Kenyan football could be as a result of some other factor rather than tribalism. Consider, for example, the crop of Kenyan footballers that have made the cut to play professional football in Europe's top five leagues. 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 Kalenjins or Kikuyus in there? Do European teams also favour Luos and Luhyas? I can't imagine that that is the case. Again, coaches do not select a player and leave out another simply because the former is better than the latter. A coach selects a player to suit his preferred method or system of play. That explains why, for example, one coach can consistently select a particular player and when another coach takes over, he freezes the player out.
The Safaricom Chapa Dimba has been held annually for at least the last 3 years. 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. Benspon 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 is a government-sponsored national 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 under-17 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. If 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.
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. 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? I wonder. If you were a football scout or coach watching the Talanta Hela and scouting for talent or selecting players for the national team, would you have selected players from Nyanza and Western or the teams that fell by the wayside in the last sixteen stage or failed to make it to the nationals? Yet, lest we forget, many Kikuyus, Kalenjins and Kenyans of all walks have over the years proudly and ably represented Kenya in international football.
Again, we must 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.
But no argument can be made that tribalism is all it has taken to make Luos and Luhyas stand out in Kenyan football. If you're still not conviced, I challenge you to check out the Kenya all-time leading scorers in our league and in the national team and make of that what you will. That list, if you cared to check it out, is dominated by Luos and Luhyas. I think no one will stoop as low as to say that Luos and Luhyas score more goals because of favoritism. Kenya has only on very rare occasions had a Luo or Luhya at the helm of the National Football Team, Harambee Stars. Recently, we have had Ghost Mulei and Francis Kimanzi (both of them Kambas) at the helm of our national football team and still the team was dominated by Luos and Luhyas. I can't remember the last time a Luo or Luhya 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 even at club level!
What many people don't understand is that Luos and Luhyas just love football. They're not in it to make money or for fame. The region has so many football tournaments most of them sponsored by their politicians and businessmen that help in talent identification and nurturing. 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 foreign to our brothers from Central Kenya, 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? Maybe they're not just as interested in the sport as Luos and Luhyas are.
But why 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 failure and fan's backlash - just because he favours a players from his own tribe. And, for the record, the Kenya under-20 football team coach (Salim Babu) isn't a Luo!
Isn't it weird that these serious allegations are being made on the same time that Harambee Stars is beginning to experience some upturn in form? It's been ages since The Stars won an away game. For the first time in what appears to be decades, Harambee Stars won an away game and did so convincingly. One may be disappointed about the Junior Stars' performance 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. The Four Nations Tournament was aired live on KBC and streamed live on youtube by the same broadcaster, which was in itself a first in Kenya. For all its perceived failings, the Kenya Kwanza administration has got one thing right: investments in sports.
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