Stars brace for pay day after beating Angola

By Gilbert WanderaHarambee Stars players will each pocket at least Sh100,000 for beating Angola 2-1 during Saturday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at Nyayo Stadium.
The money is the total amount of pledges promised by various individuals and the Government for the victory.
The Minister of Sports Paul Otuoma will give out Sh50,000 each to the players and Sh70,000 to each member of the technical bench.
Otuoma made the cash pledge when he met members of the team last Friday over lunch and urged them to work hard.
"Everywhere I go, everyone expresses concern about the performance of Harambee Stars. It does not matter that other national teams are doing well in international events," said Otuoma.
Another pledge of Sh20,000 each is to be paid out to the players by the Harambee Stars Management Board for the feat while another Sh200,000 will be paid out by Hussein Mohammed to the team.
According to Gordon Oluoch, who is a member of the Stars Board, the money will be paid out to the players by the end of this week.
"We are having a board meeting tomorrow and it will be on the agenda of our discussion because we have to motivate the players for bringing us glory," he revealed.
Oluoch said the chairman of the Board Evans Kidero has also promised on his personal behalf a significant cash award to the players and the technical bench for their feat.
Speaking in Eldoret at the week, Mohammed who is vying for the top post during next month’s football elections promised to honour the pledge to the team.
Praised Stars
In a related development Football clubs in Kitale have saluted Saturday’s win by Stars. Led by Difas Makoha, Vice Chairman KFF - North West Rift and Mohammed Ali (FKL) they praised stars victory and asked Kenyans to rally behind the national team by motivating them.
This is probably the biggest payday for Stars in recent times after enduring a string of losses in international competitions.
Stars travel to Angola on June 4 for their return match, which they must win if they hope to make it to next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Uganda Cranes lead group ‘J’ with seven points thanks to a 1-0 win over Guinea Bissau on Saturday. They had also beaten Angola 3-0 on opening day of qualifiers
Cranes had held Kenya to a barren draw at the end of last year in Nairobi, a result that may end up proving significant when deciding the group winner in October.