FKF President Hussein Mohammed has revealed the amounts Harambee Stars players received in allowances and bonuses over the past two months.
Speaking on Sunday on Citizen TV, Hussein said the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) had ensured that both players and the technical team were well remunerated.
“Whatever the team gets is the effort of the federation; the federation does everything in its power to make sure that we remunerate the team well,” he said.
Hussein disclosed that the team which participated in the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament comprised 27 players, although the government had officially catered for 24. “You’ve got the allowances of the players and the technical team, 27 players, although the government pays for 24, and we cater for the balance,” he explained.
He added that allowances paid to the national team in July and August totalled about Ksh21 million. “Those allowances that we have paid to the national team, plus other bonuses that could have been given, you are looking at about Ksh21 million that has been paid to the players through allowances,” Hussein said.
In addition to the FKF allowances, Hussein revealed that President William Ruto had given the team Ksh232 million in bonuses.
He clarified that the July allowances were paid while the team was in camp and that August payments had continued up to the day before his statement.
“Allowances were paid in July when in camp and August up to yesterday. Then there is the money that was given as bonuses by the President,” he said.
Based on these figures, the total amount disbursed to the players and technical team stands at about Ksh253 million.
However, Hussein’s reference to both players and technical staff suggests that the actual per-player share is likely lower, according to our estimations.
The FKF boss also came clean on alleged interference in squad selection, assuring the nation that coach Benni McCarthy has the autonomy to choose the players he desires, and it is strictly on merit.
On Monday, August 11, Ruto promised the Harambee Stars team and technical bench Ksh2.5 million each if they beat Zambia (which they did) in their final group game on Sunday, August 17.
In addition, President Ruto had pledged Ksh1 million and a two-bedroom Affordable Housing apartment for each player if the team secured victory in the quarter-final of the tournament. He had earlier promised Ksh60 million for reaching the same stage of the tournament.
