Dennis Oliech’s supposed interest in contesting for the Kibra parliamentary seat in the November 2019 by-elections was the final straw in his rocky eight-month relationship with Gor Mahia.
It forced the Kenyan champions to announce a divorce with the football star, accusing him of among other things poor performance, failure to turn up for duty, and engaging in active politics.
He still had 16 months in his contract with the club and was reportedly entitled to Sh300,000 monthly salary alongside a Sh3 million signing bonus payable in installments before his contract lapses.
“You have offered yourself as a candidate for popular elections, a move that is likely to portray the club in (a) bad light, cause disaffection among the club’s supporters and fans, a step that is inconsistent with the inimical to your stand as the club’s football player. Further, you have posted a photograph of yourself in the social media donning the club’s jersey indicating your political intentions,” the said in a statement late on Tuesday to announce the termination of the player’s contracts.
The club’s move came just hours after the striker had shared a campaign poster in a WhatsApp group consisting of his teammates.
The poster has a picture of the footballer donning a Gor Mahia jersey and that of a smiling opposition leader Raila Odinga in the background.
Designed with an Orange-themed background, colours associated with Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), the banner is captioned ‘Vote Dennis Oliech for Kibra MP 2019’.
And as expected, the 34-year-old, who in his prime was considered one of the country’s best-ever striker, has hit back at the club following his summary dismissal.
He claims the club consistently delayed to pay his dues which forced him to stay away from training as a form of protest.
The player’s brother Ken also updated a post on social media and appeared to blame two senior club officials for the fallout.
