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Leopards hijacks Makwata’s intended last-minute move to Gor

Wednesday, September 4th, 2019 00:00 | By
AFC Leopards snatched goal poacher John Mark Makwata.

AFC Leopards snatched goal poacher John Mark Makwata from the grasp of rivals Gor Mahia on a frantic final day of Kenyan Premier League player transfer window on Monday evening.

Bandari also netted highly-rated Burundi national team goalkeeper Justin Ndikumani from Sofapaka on the final day.

All was set for Mahia to sign their 18th recruit to act as a striking option after they dismissed Dennis Oliech last week, but with less than an hour to the deadline, Makwata opted for a move the opposite way after negotiations with Gor collapsed.

K’Ogalo scouts were alerted about Makwata’s availability at mid day and immediately swung into action, wooing him with the promise of Sh1.2 million singing fee and continental football. 

Coach Steven Polack was alerted on the developments and upon scrutinising the player’s profile, gave his blessings for the deal.

Desperate to reestablish his name with K’Ogalo Makwata quickly agreed to join the 18-time champions but the club was unable to raise the entire signing fee.

The promised Sh1.2 million seemed unrealistic. The player is said to have agreed to take Sh700,000 in cash and wait for the remainder.

He waited until 6pm but K’Ogalo could only raise Sh200,000 with a promise of writing him a cheque of Sh1 million, something that the striker could not agree to.

At around 7.30pm he decided to drive to meet Ingwe officials who were keeping his phone busy throughout the time and they are said to have reached an agreement when they splashed for him Sh500, 000 in cash to act as part of his signing fee.

Makwata became the first player from Ulinzi Stars to quit the military for football reasons when he decamped to Zambian Super League following a trailblazing 2017 season in which he scored 17 goals to emerge top scorer.

He had been recruited from a lowly Nairobi City Stars to join the military side where he reached unprecedented potential of toping the scoring charts. Scouts from East Europe the pounced on him with offers to play in Slovakia.

So promising were the offers that Makwata left the country before fully getting clearance from the military. It took intervention of several personalities for the player to avoid punitive measure.

In Slovakia, Makwata rejected a deal in the country’s second tie and opted to sign for Zambia’s Buildcon where he played for less than a season before moving to the gulf state of Kuwait on loan.

He has been in the country since expiration of his loan until the last day of transfer where he made the dramatic move. Leopards also captured Paul Were and Clyde Senaji on the last day.

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