Positive results in football do not come easy, and it is for this reason that some clubs resorted to unorthodox means such as witchcraft.
When Kenneth Matiba was the President of the Kenya Football Federation in 1975, he was concerned about this belief in witchcraft by some top clubs in the country.
Matiba, being the visionary leader who wanted the best out of Kenyan football, hatched a strategy to try and bring to an end the belief.
He invited AFC Leopards, Gor Mahia, Champion FC and Mwenge FC to play friendly matches against English Premier League side Norwich City, which was on a preseason tour in Kenya.
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As FKF’s boss, it was reported that he offered to pay “witchcraft fees” for two years for AFC and Gor should their voodoo work against Norwich.
There was also an immediate reward of Sh 10,000 that was to be paid immediately after the match had either club won.
This was only on condition that the two clubs publicly announced before the match that they had employed witch doctors to help them get favourable results.
In the end, AFC and Gor Mahia lost heavily to the Premier League giants, and Matiba’s point that witchcraft doesn’t work was proven.
Matiba took over the leadership of Kenyan Football in 1973 after a fierce power struggle with one William Ngaah, who was the President of the Kenya Football Association (KFA).
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After losing to Ngaah in the Federation’s elections, he broke away with close to 80 clubs allied to him and formed the Kenya Football Federation (KFF).
It is reported that using his financial muscle, he would book all venues for the clubs allied to him, leaving KFA with no venues for their matches. This and many other political tactics led to the slow death of KFA, leaving Matiba’s KFF in control.
Before taking over the KFF leadership, he had founded Kenya Breweries (Now Tusker FC) through his influence at the beer-making company where he was a majority shareholder.
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