The problem is fundamentally one of ethics. It is obvious what needs to be done. We don’t do it because the people running football are not doing it for football. They have every possible agenda other than promoting the beautiful game.

Its just about good marketing of products in the age of globalization and nothing really about patriotism. Deep down, Kenyan EPL fans still harbor feelings towards the national soccer team or a club of their choice. The difference is what is being consumed. e.g. news on the EPL is readily available in one form or another say the internet and web sites. Look at the KPL/KFF/FKL websites, nothing to talk of. No branding of products, media glitz, betting etc. I have been to Singapore and Malaysia, minnows in their football standards at global ranks, with a fervent EPL support base, including local support clubs, but equally great is the support local football gets as well. A sports store for instance stocks both EPL products and local league merchandises, and one comes out buying items from both entities. I have a Man Utd shirt and equally made effort to get a AFC Jersey sent to me after the latter availed the product. More can be done. Pity I cannot get a Harambee Stars jersey, even adidas has not availed of it in its online store. FKL/KFF or whoever manages the team should make such available through e-shops for instance. Clubs can do the same. In sum, I say its all about making products the apple of the eye of the consumer.

Your point about our famous runners getting empty stadia here and full ones overseas is something I have also noted. But what’s the real issue: are our people so apathetic about the success of their own, or are the foreigners just better at marketing and selling their sports products?

Secondly, there is the lack of appreciation of local sports, this is seen best during the national athletics championships and Cross Country Championships. In spite of having the best runners in the world (long and middle distance) and the fact that sometimes entry is FREE (!) the stadia are at most quarter full. Yet when these athletes go to run abroad, stadia are full (even when Usain Bolt is not participating!). I recall one time when Kenya had a 15-a-side rugby match at home against either Namibia or Tunisia and we won. On the same day the FA cup final was played – On the front page of all the local dailies there was a story on the FA cup final.

Thirdly, there is attitude. People will tell you that we will only support sports that do well. The private sector and government will only talk of rewarding achievers. There is a clear lack of understanding of what is required and what it takes for a team or an individual to be world class. It is nothing to do with the reward, it is more of the investment. After years of trying hard, Virgin Atlantic came on board to sponsor the national sevens team and … (we have seen it all).then suddenly the government wants to be associated with the team, telling other sports federations to emulate the Kenya RFU! The coca cola/Nyayo stadium story is similar though contrary Hard work and investment is required to achieve.

However, all local sports federations need to learn how to market their products and make Kenyans have an interest in their respective sports then, and only then maybe we will stop having basketball players watching league matches!

The ‘someone’ I referred to is not Kaka – it is the person who finally reforms football in Kenya once and for all. That could be any one of us.

Good people have tried to get involved in running football – but they have always been stonewalled out.

The best thing would be to commercialise the sport like is done everywhere else. When people make good money out of something they nurture it, protect it and develop it. That is why the Coca-Cola deal was so important. But it was blocked on ridiculous grounds.

If I take your argument on its merits, then there is no hope, since Kenyans are mindless mimics and worshippers of distant gods. If the problem is really in our minds, then we are cooked.

Some people have never bothered to watch a KPL match but will tell you how FKL is ruining football in the country (even forgetting that FKL does not run the KPL). It is a ready excuse to watch EPL. The KPL even modified its match times to 3pm so that people could watch them and still watch the EPL but attendances haven’t improved.

It is a typical Kenyan mentality that you can say ‘people who run this-and-this are terrible’ as if those people elected themselves (be it councillors, MPs, football administrators). It is such a ‘Save Us From Ourselves’ mentality. How come god people don’t step up to run our football? Who will run it if we claim we have turned our backs on it until ‘they’ put our house in order.

Prof. Makau was right. We love things foreign and moan a lot about local scenarios. And in so doing, sometimes albeit unintentionally we fall back into the neo-colonial throes. Ask anyone who has ever been in a pub and the Barcelona-Real Madrid match comes up and people leave. Its all about logo worship of the Big Four teams in England.

In Mombasa, they even have a band playing tunes in the street to celebrate a teams victory in the EPL. We even have songs about ‘Man U na Arsenali’ and some radio stations continue broadcasting EPL matches from the comfort of their couches.

As we continue to promote the EPL from all corners of media, less than 1,000 fans attend some of the KPL matches. But in England, the stadiums are full even for lower league matches.

So to say ‘someone’ (perhaps Kaka) has to give Kenyan fans a reason to support their teams is to be off the mark.