 Good afternoon and welcome back to the program Touchline. It's the show on Y25 for my name. It's Maxwell Wasike joining me on set right now. He's a former Arambia Stars National Team Defender. I also featured for several local teams including Task FC, Mother United, FC Leipards and so forth. Jemo, good to join us. Good afternoon. How have you been man? Kusawa. Kusalama. We didn't do anything but all the same. I'm good. You are good. How is settling outside now football world? How is it like outside here? Now that you are used to playing football and over the canes, it's not about much day. How is it like? It's a transition but you have to accept and move on because you used to playing like I played for almost 17 years and you are no longer playing so somehow you know something you love. It's the passion. It's the passion you have but at times you just have to make a decision and you say okay. It's enough and you have to also offer football from the other side but the good thing is that even the first games I watched Madare play against Bandari so I think I'll be having some times and go and cheer the guys because I love football and I have lived football. You had a great testimonial match a few weeks ago at Kamptoya. You alongside your friend Jerry Santos who also played for several local teams most reason being poster rangers. How did it feel? The atmosphere was great. I'm reliably informed. The crowd was electrifying. How did it feel? It was amazing. I think we came up with that idea. It was like a young idea but we wanted to make it work so we committed ourselves to make sure that the event happens and it was so amazing because we didn't expect the turnout to be that big and we really appreciate the guys who came over and make it happen, make it a success because if you are playing football and you have your testimonial match and you have so many friends coming around it means that when you are playing you are also making friendship so it was really an emotional game and mixed emotions because at the same time you feeling like okay it's enough I'm leaving the active scenes and also you feel like okay you'll never play again maybe like compete at the highest level. It's just like we have these Sunday tournaments this is the time now we start to play those Sunday tournaments to keep fit but all the same we thank God because it was a very very great journey and playing for 17 seasons is not a main achievement and I really really thank God and those people who really meant at me and also pushed me towards my success because it was not an easy task to play and I remember we had a lot of challenges but I had a lot of guys who really pushed me and who really contributed towards my success in football I know your football started back then at high school level when you were featuring at Sirakaru Boys in those parts of western part of the country but do you think now Kenya secondary schools sports association games play an integral part as far as the growth of any sportsman is concerned because if it were not for those school games you wouldn't have been noticed how did it start? 100% right because you have to start somewhere and I believe we have so many talents in the secondary schools and it's all about maybe having the structures and to make sure that we monitor these guys their development and make sure that when they come to the top league they are able to perform and also develop their talents to the highest level because we have so many talents and at times it's so challenging to play maybe I can say the western part because we don't have so much exposure you see like maybe around town like Nairobi or other places because we have guys coming up with a lot of talent but that exposure that chance that you are playing until somebody is maybe scouting you is somehow a challenge and also we don't have those guys who are so committed to make sure that they move around to the schools to see that they sport the talents and maybe nurture the talents it's somehow hard because you could find maybe a talented lad maybe down there for almost maybe 5-6 years but no one akunamutame wa ona inakwani shida but we believe with the good intention and the passion if we have guys who want to develop sports to the highest level we will have that structure that will make sure we fall up to the guys down there because those are the guys that always form the under 17 and under 20 team so do we have enough machineries to make sure that they go down there and maybe fall up to those talents because we have so many schools so I think if we can come up with a good structure then it's something good for the guys I've seen several people who played football before for my internationals like Bonfe Sambani and even those who are in coaching positions like Sami Palms or Molo Karenat Post Arrangers joined was a premier league to help them keep fit have you quality taken that particular route? Not yet but I believe if you love football it's something good because you have to keep fit and you have to always stay more stronger because I have been so actively playing so it's not a matter of maybe when I stop playing it's just like ok maramwaja ni mewacha so I really need to join those teams and also you know it's still business so if you have a good team around who can give me good signing feed then I'll think about it So which means what you are trying to do is you can make a reverse decision Like Denis Olih did after announcing retirement Gormaya signed him he came back to Kenyan football limelight so you can as well do that I just meant the teams that play this Sunday football but not actively football Let's go to the niti grittis as to why you are here I know Kefa has played a big role as far as advocating for the concerns welfare of footballers both Karen and Foma is concerned You are the president of Kefa Kenya Footballers Welfare Association How is the progress so far? Ya I always say we have always grown and up to now we are still growing and we have so many things in store we have a lot of work to do for the players the main thing is to protect the players rights but beside that we have so many activities we have so many things on board to make sure that the players have knowledge and also that developed we always have education on board and like the last time I was here I told you that we have personal branding you see for the players because since the departure of supersports I can say like it's hard to follow or to keep in touch with the Kenyan football so we make sure that nowadays social media is a game changer and if you use it positively it can be viewed as a player and as a brand so as a player and as a brand you are a role model to the young upcoming players so you always make sure you teach the players that they have to live up to the expectation as the role models of the upcoming players because as for me you know I have a lot of young guys behind me who sees me as their role models and they want also to achieve they have achieved in football so it's all about education and also we have other activities like recently the other day we just gave a certain a player to Loret Falcons a half of the scholarship that she wants to go to school so those are part of the things that we are doing as an association to make sure that their lives are better because these are the guys that we want them back to the game so if she comes back to the game with a lot of information knowledge and with passion we believe the sports industry will be there in the right hands I remember hosting you some time back alongside a man who is now having his entity pushing for you know player welfare in terms of recruitment to club that is Rona Dokothi he is still a player and he attributed his football to your mentorship and someone is looking up to and just like you indicated player branding is an essential aspect as far as growth of any individual is concerned in sport circles not only in sport circles but across various undertakings but what you make of Kenyan players I know of several talents in Kenyan football especially in Kenyan primarily immense potential but when it comes even to their social media names somebody is calling himself at the expense of his profile bearing what are you doing? of course even myself like I have heard so many role models the defenders we have Sajer Amos we have Lucio the Brazilians those are the guys that I look up to and I believe they really pushed me towards my success because when I watch them play I say to myself ok I want to be like this guy so it motivates you but to the social media I believe it's good for personal branding to use your really names because social media also it has its negativity when something happens maybe in a negative way it just turns upside down your name and it supports your name so we always encourage them to use their really names because as Situma James we want to associate with Maxwell the really Maxwell sometimes when I see the picture Maxwell but when I read the name it's like kataushuru so I ask myself the question is ok am I really dealing with the right person exactly maybe ambassador roles so the courts will want to associate with the really person so that's really try our level best to make sure that they they use their really names and also players they are funny somehow they are just ignorant they have that ignorance they ok me na fanya bitu vilena tak but few who listen they don't know the repakashu few who listen I think they go places and you talked about Rona she was at Waston some years back and then we were just talking online like he told me how he was feeling he was so frustrated playing and he feels that ok nothing can work through football so what I did is I told him like ok you don't have to give up if you have challenges and you just have to keep on pushing just a little bit of course my director Brian Kiman just raise your hand that way now we can continue we are talking about Rona she has featured for several clubs when he was at Tema you interacted and so many times and that's the time as I was saying he felt like ok he won't make it in football because we have a lot of frustration he doesn't see future in football but I told him like if you are talented challenges will come you just remain focused set your goals and work towards your goals and I'm so happy what he's doing at the moment he has an agency for the players something that we really really really appreciate as the organization of the players and something that lacked in Kenyan football we have to start somewhere and I always say that if someone comes up with something positive for the players or something positive that can move this industry forward then we have to give him support we have to give him an encouragement but most of the times we have negative energy when someone comes up with something we have it what if it doesn't work out unlike it can work out so for me I'm happy for him he's still young and his mind and vision is so big and we are ready also to support him because for us as an organization we are just open our doors are open for anyone to come around and share ideas about the industry I know there is life after football in Europe especially in England I've seen several former players who now do panditri on television and they are very good at Teetgari Neville, Jami Karagat, the likes of Danny Maafi Polskols, Rio Ferdinand yourself you've done that as well but I understand you meant to start pursuing some further education just bring us up to speed with what you're planning to do food bowl to business we have a famous quote around town is that Nairobi nishambalamawe I'm happy that I'm living my life so comfortable through football and I have been playing football I always talk football as you said but again I'm a leader and where the organization is at the moment it needs a lot of knowledge so running as a big organization without knowledge is something like and we have digital world at the moment needs a lot of work to do so you need to do a lot of research to have like to stay on top of your game so I'm going back to school for business management and also for sports management and administration I believe with the passion I have and with the knowledge if I'm well equipped I'm able to run the organization up to the highest level because we believe as players we are the game without us there's no game so I believe we are the game changer and if we have knowledge and put things in the right way I believe that one day, one time things will change around in our country so from business you will again pursue something that is sports related so that it's in line with you exactly the good thing is that business management is a general word it's a general thing because even if I just do the business and administration only it helps me even also in running the organization so I believe if I'm done with that and also do the sports I believe I'll be good to go and we also encourage many players to go the same direction but we believe if we have let's say most of the clubs are on with the players former players that they have knowledge I believe we will be good to go I think next time Brian Kimani you just have to make sure that mics are set so that James Situma doesn't forget on how to hold his mic but let's talk about in the capacity of president of Kenya football as welfare association KF I've seen several former players joining leadership in various aspects even in the political arena just like George Wise the Liberian president he played football he conquered he was at some point voted not only African player of the year but Ballondor winner featured for clubs like AC Milan talk to us about the position of your body with regards to players declaration in political arena McDonald Marika the only champions league winner Kenyan champions league winner now vying for political seat in Nairobi do you support such of course why not because I think each and every person has his vision and it's all about leadership and if he buys for Kibra MP maybe he wins he will be a leader he leads the entire community and remember also sports is involved inside remember you talked about Liberian president that I think it was the right thing because he had a lot of influence in the country and maybe the political instability he was the right person to come on board and make sure that the country has that peaceful stays peaceful it's no longer an issue if you have players running for political positions it's just you have to think on a leadership aspect of you because remember in that constituency you have so many young players so as a player you are leading in a certain area and it goes back to the thing that you plan to do for the entire constituency because sports is involved remember if you have around a team has maybe 20-30 players those are 30 families so if you just touch even 2 players in a certain community and make sure that they improve their living standards that's something positive for the entire community and also for you as a leader but it all goes back to the initiative that you want to give back to the guys you are leading so let's talk about something else the aspect of funding from abroad in terms of your operations financial support to our entities has been the problem as you speak right now football Kenya federation can't pay national super league referees because of lack of enough sufficient finances have you been running your operations of course we always have small funding from 5th pro to make sure that we run our activities but as you said money is never enough it also depends on the members you have you see South Africa gets a big jungle a little bit from the entire African countries because they have a lot of members who are registered that's why you see as around the country also going to make sure that we register the members to make sure that they are all in our data so that we can get something that can maybe also do other activities but if you have a small number of members also it means small amount of money we are thinking outside the box because it's never enough and at times the money that comes in we only manage to run the office at times we go to for the activities outside the town you have to at times to chip in from your pocket to make sure that you facilitate there guys to move around and that is because of the passion we have for the players and we believe that we are building something and also we just want to make the corporates to come on board also to support the this organization of players because they always support the clubs so I believe the same way we have also some companies supporting the federation I believe also we need something but you know something that maybe what always happen is that most of the corporates believe I don't know believe like we are still young or not okay like we don't mean anything but I believe one day we will we will be we will be we will be so it's just a matter of time but we are just one step by step and we believe we will have the right time and we will be there part of the role of KFO is to advocate for proper player contracts I have seen several players complaining that their contractual obligation has been violated the deal the partnership they signed with the team gets violated the team does contrary to what was sealed on the paper as abode mandated to sort of bring the two conflicting parties together and solve the concerns of the player in question how is the progress right now in Kenya the situation we have we are in is that it's problem problem every time because you already on news papers you watch the news players have gone 3 months without pay when we get to the transfer period we have most of the clubs releasing the players without even communication and through text at times verbal communication like keshu skuja mazuwezi but what we do is that we always go between a club and a player because we always the last I take let's say club A to the court about your issue to court about your issue another club sees that maxuilalipelika i club kotini also we always try to avoid that we make sure that the relationship between the player and the club is still intact so that if you agree on a mutual agreement and move to the other club we don't have issues like maybe having this plane or you took another because most of the clubs and the same way like corporates they don't like court cases so we always try as much as possible to solve it internally so that it doesn't blow out of proportion maybe you are finding all thoughts with regards to what you expect from you your undertakings in terms of having that football gross we have a dream and my director still reminds me that these things are used in church most of the time but so what I want to say that as an organization we have a dream and we are going places we have a lot of things in store we have a lot of work to do and the day we will see that clubs are honoring contracts for the players clubs are having medical covers for the players and also like clubs maybe are having insurance covers for the players I think that's the time we will say ok we are almost there but until then we think we still have a long way to go and we need a lot of commitment we need a lot of energy and we really need a lot of support from the players to make this happen and even as we speak about players joining leadership positions dan Shikanda former player at both FC Leipas and Gurma football club and even national team is now the chairperson of FC Leipas you are good friend born for sambani tried but his beat didn't go through football kind of federation presidential elections coming in not too long and I've seen pronouncements declaration from people who own the serve the game asking for are you fronting anyone from football circle big six I think for us where we are we don't support anyone maybe going for you have to be neutral because we are affiliated to the federation itself and what we believe is that we can share ideas we can give our use as the organization maybe to the federation but at the moment our main focus is just for the players you know if we go into politics at this time I think we will lose focus and also I think it will derail us because of the players what we know is that our main focus as Kenya footballers well federation is the players so maybe politics of federation and anyone coming for the federation I think is whoever wins and come there if Niki stays there and the way we are still working with him I think we are just in a better position because we have a good relationship with him and I think we are working and despite your affiliation to the current federation that doesn't necessarily mean that you will support the incumbent in his reelection bid we don't support anyone that's for sure so we are just for us we are an independent organization at times we always share with him ideas that develops the player because we want good for the player so whoever comes in and also looks into the welfare of the player better if he stays there because he is looking for the welfare of the players for us we don't have any problem always a pleasure joining us James Situma kfua president former player for the national team Rambi Staswa announced his retirement a few weeks ago and remember he also featured club safety leopard sofa paka task afc and recently madara united he says he started his football back then at the high school level 17 years down the line and he played for one of the schools at the bungoma county that is Sirakaru boys where he got spotted and he hails sports games as an entity that enables these players a tender edge to get spotted always a pleasure speaking to you James and thanks for coming through and of course right away we're going to link up with Robert Osoro who's been pitching camp to the national team Rambi Stas parties ahead of their friendly clash against Uganda cranes tomorrow remember Kenya would be playing their friendly fixture Michael engineer Longa is the standing captain replacing Victor Wanyama and over to you Robert Osoro if you can hear me just take it over and tell us what is happening at Kasarana I understand the national team ahead of their clash tomorrow