Did Rugby coach Ayimba lose his job ‘for being too close to State House?'

By John Lawrence | 7yrs ago | 3 min read

Benjamin Otieno Ayimba is a man under siege.

This comes after the Kenya National Rugby Sevens team failed to sparkle at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Ayimba whose position as coach has since been declared vacant, says he has no regrets whatsoever and is ready to take full responsibility for the team’s poor show in Rio.

“We went to Brazil way too early, the boys lost it along the way. Our spark just died during the 16 days even before getting to the pitch,” Ayimba explains.

“Working under National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) was one of the most challenging tasks in my decade-long coaching career. Our broke union sold us off to Nock who were not willing to listen to any of our grievances.”

The Nairobian has learnt that despite the poor show, some of the Kenya Sevens players were paid over Sh2 million before even boarding the plane to Rio de Janeiro.

Tier one players received Sh1.2 million from President Uhuru, plus an additional Sh750,000 from the Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts, besides Sh60,000 local allowances.

In total, tier one players took home at least Sh 2.01 million each while tier two players were paid approximately Sh1.73 million each.

All funds were directly wired into the players’ accounts by the government. Ayimba claims he is now being hunted by the union for being too close to State House and often speaking freely with President Uhuru.

“Upon our return from Brazil, the union summoned me for a review of the season, but to my shock, the meeting turned into a vetting session with directors asking why I went to State House and how much the boys were paid.

Some wanted to know why the money was not directly paid to the union which is the employer. But how could we trust them after they deducted over 30 per cent of the Sh10 million President Uhuru awarded the team upon winning the Singapore Sevens?” Ayimba posed.

As Safari Sevens rugby tournament kicks off this weekend, Ayimba is left on his own with little communication from his bosses at the union headquarters along Ngong Road, Nairobi.

Ayimba’s dependable squad of elite players have also sworn to keep off the tournament, leaving him and the technical bench with captain Andrew Amonde and Willy Ambaka.

And if you are a fan of Kenya Sevens, do not expect to see world top try scorer Collins Injera in action this weekend at Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani.

His brother Humphrey Khayange too will once more not be available for a tournament that is gradually losing its sparkle. Oscar Ouma, the sensational Samuel Oliech and the likes of Biko Adema, Dennis ‘Ghost Worker’ Ombachi and Oscar Ayodi, who are all away either on holiday, nursing injuries or have had enough of the union’s broken promises, will also not turn up.

With his job on the line, Ayimba says that the players would have loved to play on Kenyan soil, but after a long tiring season, no one wants to play when the union has not said anything about their unpaid bonuses.