Gor Mahia Chairman Abrose Rachier is a respected man in the corridors of justice.
All the reason Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa should start shaking in his tiny boots.
Rachier – the long serving Gor administrator has accused FKF president Nick Mwendwa of intimidation, and has vowed to remain put.
Meanwhile, Gor Mahia have summoned their lawyers to advise on the way forward following Nick Mwendwa’s move to impose sanctions on the club after they snubbed league derby against rivals AFC Leopards.
Ksh4 million fine
FKF fined Gor Ksh.4 million with Rachier escaping with a suspension for defiance. Ingwe on the other hand were fined Ksh 6 million and their chairman Dan Shikanda suspended.
“Our lawyers are on this matter and very soon we will take the necessary action. How can you sanction anyone anywhere in the world without giving them a chance to be heard? Which law is that and where does it apply?’’ Rachier argued.
Those who have brushed shoulders with a soft spoken Rachier – or have had the rare opportunity to read a demand letter he has authored know him too well.
“His understanding of law is supreme, and his English forceful and scary,” said a journalist who received a lengthy demand letter after writing a story that did not sit well with Gor entourage.
Harmless story
It happened a few years ago. Rachier had sued a local publication over a story it ran on a transfer saga touching on Gor Mahia – and the Chairman was extensively quoted.
According to the editor, this was a harmless story.
The story quoted a former Gor official – where she said certain unsavory things about the chairman. Her rather careless talk (not backed up by evidence) won her a serious demand letter from Rachier.
An editor who had commissioned – and even edited the story was copied in the demand letter.
He would later say that this was the first demand letter he was receiving in his life as a journalist – and it was not fun. This was Rachier, a man who had at one point represented President Moi.
“I received a call from the company’s Head of Legal. She sounded nervous – almost afraid,” the editor told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
I felt afraid for the first time
“I walked into the office, and was asked to sit down… and for the first time I felt afraid,” adds the editor.
“What were you thinking when you were writing this story? Do you know who Rachier is? This is a serious legal mind, a top drawer lawyer who has never lost a case,” the head of legal had said.
“To be honest, it was a harmless story… the head of legal was simply making a fuss over nothing. She took me through the demand letter, word for word, and asked me to prepare my defense.”
“Rachier, or whoever it was that authored the letter… asked questions he or she knew had no answers; the kind of questions lawyers ask to annoy you, make you lose your cool. For instance, I was asked to present a bank trail… or something like that… as proof that ‘some money went into someone’s bank account’.
Difficult questions
“How on earth was I going to get that? My salary was as little as chicken piss, and here I was being asked very difficult questions about transactions that occurred in some bank accounts in Timbuktu … ” said the editor said.
According to the editor, one thing stood out from the distant engagement he had with Rachier or his lawers; you don’t want to engage him in a legal battle. That’s because law; good law for that matter, is his meat and drink.
The editor also mentioned that the club official who was sued on the same issue spent an entire afternoon trying to comprehend the vocabulary.
See, Nick and his legal team should be ready.