Nairobi City Stars have expressed disappointment in the manner in which a court case involving the club and three match-fixing suspects was handled after it emerged Monday that the accused had been released on a Sh200,000 fine each.
As a result, the club has urged the Dan Wanyama-led National Assembly Committee on Sports, Culture and Tourism to double its efforts in pushing for the enactment of a law criminalizing match-fixing in the country.
City Stars CEO Patrick Korir and coordinator Samson Otieno were Monday morning left shocked at the Makadara Law Courts in Nairobi after being informed by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations officer handling the case that it had been closed on April 28.
They had arrived in the court early in the morning to testify in the case where the accused were Russian Akhiad Kubiev, Ugandan Bernard Nabende and Kenyan Martin Munga.
The suspects had on March 13 been charged with “conspiracy to commit a felony namely cheating, an act which is considered as match-fixing in football in any part of the world.”
This was after they were arrested on March 11 in Roysambu after being set up by former footballer Festo Omukoto and eight City Stars players who they had approached to help fix their upcoming Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) match against Sofapaka at Ruaraka Grounds in Nairobi.
The players were to pocket a sum of Sh1.8 million ($14,000) if the deal went through. As part of the ploy, they were to first receive Sh30, 000 each through Mpesa as transport to the match venue.
Principal Magistrate Eric Mutunga had released them on a Sh 300,000 bond with two suarities of a similar amount each after they denied the charges.
But according to the case file seen by Nation Sport, the trio through their lawyer Apollo Mboya wrote to the court on April 24 seeking to change their plea on the matter.
They took a fresh plea on April 28 before Principal Magistrate Mutunga, admitting to committing the two offences. The court then sentenced them to a one-and-a-half-year jail term or Sh 100,000 fine for each offence.
According to the DCI officer handling the case, the suspects were set free three days after the sentence after they paid the Sh200, 000 fine each.
“It is a wasted morning for some of us to have come here for a case that was closed one week ago,” said a disappointed Korir. That (the case was closed without the knowledge of City Stars) is the shocking part because I was given today (May 8) as the hearing date and were to appear to testify.”
“I am quite disappointed but it comes down with what we had pointed out that without any law on match fixing, any suspect arrested will walk scot free so it is my plea the National Assembly Committee on Sports, Culture and Tourism that they need to speed up the enactment of laws such that if match fixing suspect is arrested there is another penal code to be applied.”
The Wanyama-led Committee had on April 18 promised to push for the enactment of a law criminalizing the vice. This was after they grilled FKF president Nick Mwendwa and Sports PS Jonathan Mueke on the rise of the vice in the country.
Wanyama, who is the MP for Webuye West, advised the federation to apply other money-related offences such as bribery in taming match fixing as they push for the enactment of a law criminalizing match-fixing.
“We shall help in the legislation of a law that criminalizes match-fixing,” said Wanyama.
“But still there is a small window that if we have evidence, then we can go the route of bribery because there is a law to deal with bribery. So meanwhile, before we get to the policy level, and have match fixing fixed, then kindly let us get those who are giving the money, and take them to court for bribing, I think that will sort us for now.”
