NAIROBI, Kenya, September 3 – AFC Leopards chair Dan Shikanda has revealed an interesting deal with former striker, John Mark Makwatta, before the marksman joined the den in 2019.
Shikanda said Makwatta agreed to a salary cut in the event he failed to score at least 10 goals in the first leg of the 2019/20 FKF Premier League.
“I offered him a sign-on fee of Ksh 2 million and a salary of Ksh 200,000. There’s something that he told me…that if he failed to score at least 10 goals in the first leg, then I should reduce his salary to Ksh 100,000 but if he scored 10 goals, then his pay should increase to Ksh 300,000. Of course, he scored more than 10 goals and we had to increase the salary to Ksh 300,000,” the chair said.
Shikanda used the example of Makwatta to reiterate his call for Kenyan clubs to invest in players and remunerate them well if they are to repay them with excellent performances.
He lamented poor pay across Kenyan football clubs, noting that Tanzanian bigwigs (Simba SC and Yanga) are way ahead of the game.
“When I took over AFC, the highest amount that the strikers who wanted to sign for us were asking for was Ksh 35,000. Compare that to Gor Mahia who had signed Jacques Tuyisenge at the same time and were paying him Ksh 300,000. Of course, you could see the scoring statistics for Tuyisenge,” Shikanda said.
He added: “You can see across the border in Tanzania how Simba and Yanga have grown. They can now afford to pay players Ksh 3 million. In the past, these teams used to beg us for friendlies but now that is not the case.”
Shikanda, a former Ingwe player, took the reins at Kenya’s biggest club in 2019 after garnering 429 votes against his closest competitor, Ronald Namai.
The chair admits it has not been a smoothsailing reign for him due to financial challenges as well as opposition from certain quarters.
“When we lose, I receive plenty of calls from people. My phone is ever busy. But, when we win or need resources, no one picks my calls,” he said.
Shikanda was speaking at the launch of the Sports Tech Africa Conference, which is set for October 16-17 at the Strathmore University in Nairobi.
He pointed to Ingwe’s recent partnerships with Hpaysa as evidence that the club is surely but steadily embracing technology in its day-to-day activities.
He described the upcoming conference as just what the doctor ordered to move Kenyan football forward.
“I’d like for you to invite other football stakeholders on that day as well as officials so that they can come and garner information on how to use technology to grow the sport,” he said.
AFC Leopards lead the FKF Premier League table after matchweek 1, having thrashed Mathare United 4-0 at the Dandora Stadium, a fortnight ago.
