There will be no residential camp for Harambee Stars as the team prepares for next week’s crucial 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification double header against Ethiopia.
The move has now caught Harambee Stars in a no man’s land as the government is yet to disburse the Sh19m for Ethiopia match.
It has now emerged that the government is demanding for accountability from all federations before releasing money for any upcoming assignments.
Goal now understands that the government through the Ministry of Sports have already dispatched a letter to all associations in the country stressing on the importance of accounting for monies received for any activities.
HARAMBEE STARS-AFCON AGAINST ETHIOPIA 14/10/18:
Defenders
1. Philemon Otieno (Gor)
2. Jockins Atudo (P Rangers)
3. Musa Mohammed (Nkana)
4.Brian Mandela ( Maritburg )
5. Abud Omar ( Cercle Brugge)
6 .David Ochieng ( Brommapojkarna)
7. Erick Ouma (vasalund)
8. Joseph Okumu (real) pic.twitter.com/jQHBx9jo6i— Ministry Of Sports, Culture And Heritage (@moscakenya) October 4, 2018
The move has now caught Harambee Stars in a no man’s land as the govt is yet to disburse the Sh19million budget from the federation to help the team navigate through the two–legged Afcon qualifying match against Ethiopia.
“We received a notice from the government stressing for accountability for any monies received but as a federation we have been doing the same. I don’t think they have any issues on how we spend the money they give us,” a top FKF official told Goal on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Sports Principal Secretary Kirimi Kaberia told Goal that FKF had used most of the money meant for their allocation and that the government can only afford to give the team tickets for the trip to Addis Ababa.
“We have already received their budget for the Ethiopia fixture but to be honest we are not in a good position to pay them what they want because it seems they have spent almost half of the budget allocated for them in the year.
“What I can promise you is that the team will travel to Ethiopia to honour the away match. We will disburse tickets on Thursday and we want to make sure that all the players named in the team travel without any hitch.”
The latest move has also forced Harambee Stars to cancel residential training as they have opted to train from home. FKF Media Liaison Officer Barry Otieno told Goal on Wednesday that the players will train on Thursday, leave for home and return on Friday as they prepare to depart on October 6.
“The government says they will offer tickets for the team to travel to Ethiopia. First of all, the tickets are supposed to have been received by today (Wednesday) but as we speak, we have not received any ticket.
“We have asked the players to train on Thursday and then leave for home then return on Friday. The pros can only link up with the team in Ethiopia if and when they receive the tickets.”
Kenya stand a good chance of making it to the final of the Afcon after a 1-0 win against Ghana’s Black Stars on September 8.