Were Jubilee politicians responsible for the abandonment of Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards match at Nyayo Stadium?

 A section of crowd at Nyayo national Stadium

A secret audio recording seems to show that the violence was carefully planned by powerful forces.

The recent violence that saw high octane match pitting arch rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards abandoned at Nyayo Stadium may have been politically instigated.

The Nairobian has obtained an audio recording that shows that the violence could have been planned elsewhere and imported to Nyayo Stadium. The two minute recording has unidentified person claiming that a top Jubilee politician used an agent to hire people from Kawangware to disrupt the match.

The recording which is done in Swahili claims that people were given money to start throwing stones immediately Gor Mahia scored a goal or two. Not surprisingly, the match was abandoned in the 64th minute after Gor Mahia were awarded a penalty when Jackson Saleh handled the ball in his box.

“Three cars were hired to take people to Nyayo Stadium, and they were to start throwing stones once AFC Leopards had gone down. We knew that since Gor Mahia were doing well, they would not easily get provoked,” says the unidentified voice.

The person further claims that the person who gave out money was acting at the behest of a top Jubilee politician. “He lives in Lavington and has been promised Parliamentary seat in Nairobi if he fails in his bid to become Senator in 2017,” the recording continues.

When contacted, Football Kenya Federation chairman Sam Nyamweya said he was not aware if the violence was planned or spontaneous.

 “I am shocked, and this is criminal if indeed it was planned. Why would anyone want to spoil such a top game?” wondered Nyamweya. Kenyan Premier League (KPL) Chief Executive Jack Oguda admitted he had listened to the audio recording saying: “I received the recording from someone. Apparently he too received it from another source. But we don’t know where it originated from. If we can find the source, then it would help us get to the root of the problem.”

Gor Mahia have since been awarded the match after the KPL found their opponents guilty of having caused the abandonment of the fixture which was played on August 23 at Nyayo Stadium. AFC Leopards have vowed to appeal against the decision and are blaming Gor Mahia who were the home team for failing to provide enough security.

A total of 19 football fans appeared in court on August 25 to answer charges of causing destruction after the weekend derby. Most of the fans were reportedly Gor followers. But there were claims that some of some AFC fans donned Gor jerseys only to cause mayhem in the city.

— Gilbert Wandera