Francis Iganji has been appointed AFC Leopards patron to replace Cyrus Jirongo who has held the position for the last five years.
The Leopards executive committee has also appointed Linet Mirehane as the club’s trustee, replacing Timothy Wanyonyi.
The two were unveiled at a brief but colourful ceremony in Nairobi that was attended by club chairman Dan Mule, club officials, former players and fans.
Iganji has been charged with turning around the club’s fortunes and restoring it back to its glory days.
Speaking after his appointment, Iganji outlined a number of objectives he wanted to achieve with the club.
He said he would inject Sh5 million to the club to help in clearing part of their debts.
He also pledged to dedicate his time to assist Mule in his leadership of the club by developing ideas and mobilising resources to make Leopards even stronger.
“I want to improve the welfare of our players to make sure they are comfortable and start an academy to attract young talents to generate resources for the club.
“I also plan to set up a secretariat where we shall hire two professionals well versed with issues related to football, and then we set an annual plan of activities for the club.
“I want to see to it that from next year, players are employed on a permanent basis and with help from our partners, I would like to see the players taking part in exchange programs regularly,” he said.
On her part, Milehane said that Ingwe was a big club that commanded a huge following, but their current situation was embarrassing and disappointing.
“AFC Leopards is our cultural pride but their condition is truly disappointing. This is a club that an entire community looks up to and we would like to see things being done differently from now henceforth. To make it better, let’s treat our players well so that they can also perform better,” she said.
