Legendry Kadenge’s biography unveiled
By STEVEN OMONDI
A book on football legend Joe Kadenge was launched on Friday evening in Nairobi. The biography, Joe Kadenge: The Life of a Football Legend, immortalises Kenya’s foremost footballer.
The launch was presided over by Cord leader Raila Odinga who urged the government to invest more resources not only in cash but in kind and technical expertise so as to grow the sports industry.
“The government can begin this initiative by honoring sports legends such as Joe Kadenge for the indelible mark they left in sports. I highly recommend that City Stadium be renamed Joe Kadenge Stadium in his honour.”
Joe Kadenge, the man of the day, urged the current generation of sportsmen and women to be diligent and play clean as sports today is rewarding.
“I persevered the times as I charted the waters and played clean. Please stay clean and be virtuous. It pays in the long-run,” Kadenge said.
LIFE AND TIMES OF KADENGE
Mr John Nene, the author, challenged his fellow sports journalists to take up authorship of biographies as a way of telling Kenya’s story through
documenting it in a book.
“I wrote this book to recognize and share not only the life and times of Joe Kadenge the great but also of his colleagues. Some of examples shared in the book show the good, the bad and the ugly. There are lessons I believe football players today can learn that will help this sector return to
its days of glory,” Mr Nene said.
Mr John Mwazemba, the CEO of Phoenix Publishers, which published the book, expressed optimism that the biography will spur authorship of more stories of Kenyan heroes in the sporting, political, entertainment and business worlds.
“In publishing Mr Kadenge’s book, we immortalise the hero. We hope to see more such stories. We as a publishing firm urge that more research be done in sports and others to emulate this initiative,” Mr Mwazemba said.
The colourful function was attended by political leaders, government officials, football administrators and players. The book will be available from Monday in major bookshops at Sh2000 a copy.