•Anyango, a diploma holder, is faulting an amendment to the club’s constitution that has made it mandatory for those seeking leadership positions in the club to produce a university degree before being listed on the ballot.
•“My take is that it is for that board to respond to the writer of that letter which I trust they will do in due course. I thank you,” —Rachier.
Two top Gor Mahia officials could soon be headed to court to resolve their differences.
Organising Secretary, Judith Anyango, is flexing her muscles ahead of an imminent legal battle with chairman Ambrose Rachier after a new clause that was stealthily affixed to the club’s constitution barring her from seeking elective posts.
Anyango, a diploma holder, is faulting an amendment to the club’s constitution that has made it mandatory for those seeking leadership positions in the club to produce a university degree before being listed on the ballot.
She says that the initial consensus among members had been that anyone pursuing an elective post should have at least a college diploma, but some people, fearing that their popularity had taken a deep plunge, decided to scare away competitors by insisting on a university degree in an effort to maintain the status quo.
According to Anyango, trouble started in September 2019 during the AGM that was held at Jukwaa Lounge at Uhuru Park, where members were called to discuss amendments to the constitution. Although the turnout was impressive the objective was never met because, apparently, Rachier had other ideas.
She claims Rachier hired some mean and uncompromising goons to reign chaos in the meeting, consequently making it virtually impossible to engage the members present and adopt a new constitution with a measure of civility.
Anyango accuses Rachier of harbouring an innuendo at the meeting, part of which was to give himself an unfair edge over his opponents by doctoring the constitution to lock them out.
She also accuses him of funding chaos to intimidate well meaning members who innocently sought to know the contents of the amendments before they could endorse the document.
“The amended constitution which was adopted in May 2019, was forced down our throats after Rachier and his clique presented it to a specific group of individuals whom they ferried to Jukwaa Lounge to help approve of it by acclamation even before its contents were made known to the public,” said Anyango.
That being the situation, members exited the venue oblivious of the fact that those who had been hired to draft the amendments had proposed a university degree as a basic requirement for pursuing an elective post.
Anyango says that she and other members only came to realise much later that Rachier had actually inserted the clause through the back door without consulting them, after which he secretly took it to the office of the Registrar of Societies for filing.
“It was only until later that we discovered Rachier had already submitted the amended version of the constitution to the Registrar of Societies without seeking the views of other officials first.”
Indeed, the minutes of the meeting indicate clearly that constitutional amendment was one of the items highlighted as part of the day’s agenda but curiously though, the panel resolved to defer the matter for a month.
Contacted for comment, Rachier could neither confirm nor deny the allegations, rather choosing to take a cautious approach. He said he trusted that the board would give an appropriate reply.
“My take is that it is for that board to respond to the writer of that letter which I trust they will do in due course. I thank you,” said Rachier.
Wasuna on the other hand said that Nyangi is still a member of the executive and should feel free to raise her complaints when the committee meets next before its dissolution on August 1.
“The constitution was passed in public at Jukwaa Lounge and all members unanimously agreed with its contents so I wonder why she’s complaining yet she was also there,” said Wasuna.
On reports that some members are planning to stop him and Rachier from seeking another term in office he said: “It all depends on when we first came to office and what the constitution they are referring to says. As we speak, there is no clause that gives any term limits in the current club constitution if that’s what they are basing their argument on.”