Odera back as Simbas coach after out of court settlement

The Kenya Rugby Union and coach Paul Odera have reached an out of court settlement that will see the latter remain as the Kenya Simbas head coach up to 2023.

Odera had gone to the Labour and Employment Court in July after the Union through its official channels announced that the tactician had resigned. Odera came out guns blazing refuting the statements, saying he had not relinquished his role as the national 15s team head coach.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court then barred the Kenya Rugby Union from terminating the contract of Kenya 15s head coach or starting any process to hire a new tactician, before an Application before it by the tactician is heard.

And now, the two have reached a settlement that will see the coach, formerly with the national Under-20 team, serve for the remainder of his contract.

Had the Union pushed on to have the tactician ousted, then they would have paid the whole amount owed to him for the rest of his contract.

And now, in an agreement signed by lawyers from both ends, the matter is now settled and Odera can continue in his mission to try and see Kenya qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

Paul Odera, the Kenya 15s head coach

“By consent of the parties, it hereby agreed that the Claimant shall remain in employment with the respondent and continue to serve for the remainder of the tenure as Head Coach of the Kenya Men’s National 15’s Team under the terms of his Letter of Appointment dated September 1st 2020 and the provision of the Employment Act, 2007,” read the settlement.

It added; “The respondent shall withdraw, remove and/or delete from its website (www.kru.co.ke) and all social media platforms that belong to it or that are within its control (including its Twitter handle) all statement to the effect that the Claimant (Odera) has resigned from his position as Head Coach of the Kenya Men’s National team.”

Since his appointment in 2019, Odera has been in a love-hate relationship with the Union especially with his stance on training and naming of squads.

That has ruffled feathers every time with the Union and hence their attempt at ousting the coach.

Meanwhile, the Union has appointed Peter Drewett as a High Performance Consultant.

Peter Drewett

“The KRU is pleased to have Peter on board and we look forward to tapping into his vast experience as we seek to scale new heights through reinforced capacity building for the personnel within our entire national squads set up,” said Union Chairman Oduor Gangla.

Peter is no stranger to the High Performance environment, having been involved in several roles across the globe, starting with the England RFU where he rose to the rank of England U21 Manager and National Player Development Manager, serving between 1992 and 2006.

It is during this stint that he guided the England U21s to two Six Nations Grand Slams in 2004 and 2006.

He also served as Director of Rugby and Head Coach at the Exeter Chiefs between 2006 and 2009, England RFU Students Manager between 2010 and 2014, Head of Elite Coach Development at the Hong Kong Rugby Union from 2014 to 2017, Performance Coach Manager with the Wales Rugby Union between 2017 and 2018 as well as the Georgia Rugby Union where he has served as the General Manager in charge of High Performance since 2019.

Peter will have his hands full as he will assist with the entire High Performance programme encompassing The Simbas, Shujaa, Lionesses and Chipu and work closely with the technical teams towards the required outcomes.