Young icon who empowered youths through table tennis

By PETER NJENGA

KENYA: At a time when table tennis was seen as a game for the rich, a young ambitious hero embarked on a mission to debunk the myth. At only 17, Andrew Mudibo began his journey to empower the youth of Mathare slums by mooting an idea to start a table tennis club.

In 1988, Mudibo formed the St.Teresa’s Table Tennis Club at the St.Teresa’s Catholic Church in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area under the instigation of local Catholic Fathers John Lemay and Arnold Grol.

This was at the same time that sports official Bob Munro formed the Mathare Youth Sports Association when he empowered the youth to use football to clean their environment.

Mudibo went to the slums and streets of Eastleigh to bring youths together to play table tennis and also offered them free coaching. Immediately, the Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank through their CSR platforms adopted young Mudibo and supported him as he organised the St Teresa Youth Championships.

From independence to the late 80s, table tennis was played only by the rich in Parklands area. It is then that Mudibo and his St. Teresa’s events brought the sport to the doors in Eastlands. All of a sudden it was like a gold rush had started with everybody not wanting to be left out on the events and coaching that Mudibo was conducting.

Many of the young people he coached have gotten big opportunities to better their lives. People like Salat Mohammed, Paul Mulandi, Dominic Njau, and Alex Warutere are just some of the youths who have benefited directly from major financial institutions.

At a time the sport was embroiled in internal strife, Mudibo dutifully organised tournaments showcasing the potential of the youth.

This act of kindness caught the eye of the current World Table Tennis Federation President Adam Sharara, who was deeply moved with what a 17-year-old had done by showing the world that through sports,  the youth can find employment and stay away from social vices.

During the 2001 anniversary of the advent of his work, Mudibo was showered with rare praise which earned him an annual sports equipment grant to distribute tables in clubs in the poor areas of Nairobi.

Mudibo’s vision of hosting major events first came to him in 1989 on his 18th birthday when Kenya hosted the World Table Tennis Cup, bringing together the best in the world for one week at the Nyayo National Stadium indoor gymnasium.

KTTA Chairman at the time, Sharad Ghai, managed to bring this event to Nairobi. Unfortunately, it was at a time when live TV coverage of sports was limited to the soccer World Cup.

After school, Ghai appointed Mudibo as his assistant and together they built Kenya’s first international sports marketing firm, Media Plus Sport which professionalised  cricket and managed to secure Harambee Star’s Sh150 million in sponsorship from Kenya Breweries in 1997.

Media Plus finally hit it big time in 1999 when it helped organise a four nations cricket tournament, bringing together Kenya, Zimbabwe, India and South Africa. It also sold the television rights to Trans World International  for an astounding US$3 million (then Sh225 million). The firm later organised a cricket mini-World Cup in the year 2000 and one World Cup match in 2003 between Kenya and Sri Lanka. Kenya and South Africa co-hosted the World Cup which saw our boys reach a historic semi-final berth which was described as one of the major achievements of the new Narc Government.

 Although internal wrangling within the Kenya Cricket Association saw Media Plus,  which was the commercial arm of the association, leave cricket, Mudibo the young administrator who was also the President of the Africa Zone Five Table Tennis Association went into sports marketing.

An achiever

He masterminded a campaign for Hussein Mohammed for the chairmanship of the Kenya Football Federation

 Today, Mudibo is a polished gentleman who can eat and dine with the kings of local and international sports. He has already been nominated as technical official for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 2004, Philo Pinto who is also a legend in the sport, told some members of the Executive Committee meeting that it would take another 50 years for the Kenya Table Tennis Association to find a multi-talented and gifted person like Mudibo.

Mudibo has been credited with many of the changes that have taken place in the sport today. He is definitely ahead of his years in the management of sports and one would not be surprised if he brought the World Games to Kenya.

During the last football elections, Mudibo was credited with building up the profile and visibility of Hussein Mohammed. In cricket, he has worked closely with Ghai and Ms Jackie Janmohamed.

In 2011, The International Table Tennis Federation honored Mudibo and awarded him a merit award.

Introduction of game

Mudibo is currently the president of  the Zone 5 Countries in Africa in table tennis and CEO of Glorious Sky Limited.

Table tennis was introduced in Kenya at the turn of the last century but gained national appeal among Indians through the  Pinto family  of Kisumu (Jane Pinto becoming a national heroine) and the Ghais of Ruiru. Sharad Pandit was the first Kenyan of Asian origin to play at the All Africa Games.