Africa-Press – Kenya. Today, I want to tell you a moral story of a man who lived with his three militant sons.
Despite being hard workers, the three brothers constantly fought each other. They disregarded their father’s vain attempt to broker peace.
Their fierce differences spilled into the public domain and neighbours soon turned them into a laughing stock.
Eventually, the father was weighed down by illness. From his deathbed, he frantically urged his sons to learn how to work together but his attempt yielded little success.
Dismayed by their arrogance, the man vowed to teach his sons a practical lesson to help them quash their differences. So, one day he called them and posed a challenge.
“I’ll give you each an equal collection of sticks to break in half. Whoever breaks the sticks the fastest will be rewarded,” the father said.
He gave each of his sons 10 sticks, instructing them to break each stick in half. This task seemed so easy and the brothers finished it at a glance.
The father then called them again and threw down another gauntlet to them.
“Dear sons, the task isn’t finished. Now I’ll give each of you 10 more sticks, however, you must break the sticks in half as a bundle rather than snapping each one separately.”
They gladly took up the challenge, only that their determined efforts to break the bundle in half bore no fruits at all.
“See, it was easy to break the sticks in half individually, but you couldn’t break all 10 of them at the same time,” said the father.
“If the three of you stay united as a team, nobody will be able to harm you. However, if you fight all the time, anyone will be able to defeat you. Please come together as a united team.”
The three brothers ultimately appreciated teamwork and pledged they would work together going forward.
Why am I narrating this story? As we speak, the Kenyan football scene is in a big mess owing to irreconcilable differences between opposing camps with vested interests.
A fierce battle of supremacy looms large on the local football scene with the possibility of the country witnessing two parallel topflight leagues next season.
On August 22, a group of stakeholders threatened to introduce their league in the country after disagreeing with Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed’s decision to extend the mandate of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Transition Committee for another two months.
Speaking on behalf of the renegade officials, FKF Nairobi East branch chairman Amos Otieno termed the move by the CS as contentious.
Unless local football stakeholders put their differences aside and work as a team, Kenyan football will continue to wallow in limbo.
The country is already counting huge losses after being locked out of continental competitions owing to an existing ban imposed by the world football governing body, Fifa, in March.
Unless we are being driven by vested interests, it’s a high time we talked to one another and listen to each other. Members of successful teams generally cooperate toward a mutual goal.
They capitalise on diverse talents, strengths and weaknesses to contribute to teamwork, staying focused on the task at hand instead of being distracted by personal disputes.
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