Kenya: I am Still in Charge of Leopards, Ochiel Declares

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Muigai Kiguru

9 March 2011

Julius Ochiel has charged that his team is still in charge of AFC Leopards. He accused the Minister for Sports Paul Otuoma, the Registrar General Berniece Gacheru and the Commissioner of Sports Gordon Oluoch of stretching the law in order to kick his team out fraudulently.

Ochiel accused the minister of misleading the registrar that there was a vacuum at the club after the club failed to conduct elections on February 13. “We are not going to accept this and we shall be launching legal action at the High Court over the registrar’s move to hand a letter recognising the returns of an election that never happened,” said Ochiel. “We are unhappy with such fraudulent moves and we vow to fight until justice is seen to be done.” He said the minister does not have a mandate to interfere with the club’s affairs since it is a society.

“Kenya is under the rule of law and we will ensure that AFC is not an exception,” he added. “How can they purport to have held an election when the venue of the election (Nyayo Stadium) was locked up by police,” he quipped. “The voting was through acclamation while the same board had stipulated that election would be through secret ballot.”

He also condemned Sunday’s incident where his secretary general Robert Asembo and himself were attacked at the City Stadium. “It is regrettable that people could hire goons to attack us while we watched our team play,” said Ochiel adding that these were not Leopard’s fans.

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