The debate about the whereabouts of cash bonusses that were to be paid to Harambee Stars for the Africa Cup of Nations outing has taken a new twist after team captain Victor Wanyama was implicated in the debacle.
According to Stars defender Aboud Omar, players were never consulted on how the money was to be paid with Wanyama instead tabling his proposal before the Football Kenya Federation, a move the defender criticised.
“The federation said they had talked with the captain after they had received the KSh250 million (from the government). Victor (Wanyama) had made a decision on our behalf and according to me, it wasn’t the best of ways of doing things. I told him it wasn’t a good move since I felt they could have asked for our opinion on the same,” Aboud said.
According to the agreement, Each Stars player was to pocket KSh250,000 for each win in the continental showpiece held in Egypt last year. Stars pipped Taifa Stars 3-2 in their last group match having lost the first two to eventual finalists Senegal and Algeria.
The former Sepsi player further added that another KSh1 million that had been set aside to appreciate players who had been crucial in the team’s qualification journey but were not named in the eventual Afcon squad was equally not paid.
Apart from the AFCON bonuses, there was some money set aside for players who had helped the team during qualification. Players like Atudo (Joakins) who didn’t play so many games in the process but they helped the team. They were promised some money but they didn’t get any.
“The president (Nick Mwendwa) said we were going to be given the money but we didn’t get it too.”
