Harambee Stars in Accra Ahead of Game

Nairobi -- The national soccer team, Harambee Stars, has set up a 12-day training camp in Accra, Ghana to prepare for their Africa Nations Cup qualifier against Togo in Lome.

The party had left Nouakchott at about mid-day on Saturday, hours before Mauritania's government battled an apparent coup attempt at dawn yesterday.

Reports say gun and tank cannon fire erupted near the presidential palace in the Arab-dominated west African nation.

Residents in Nouakchott, said explosions started at 2 am and by mid-day yesterday, they could still hear gunfire and see tanks moving.

In Nairobi, Stars' players' relatives called the Daily Nation to inquire about the team on learning of the Mauritania coup.

"We would like to assure them that all is well and that the team left Mauritania before the unrest. There is no course for alarm as the team is safe in Accra," Kenya Football Federation (KFF) official John Kariuki said in Nairobi yesterday.

Harambee Stars will play three build-up matches during their stay in Accra if the arrangements shall be finalised in time.

Stars players and officials arrived in Acra on Saturday evening after 12 hours flight from Mauritania only to find no Kenya Football Federation official had come ahead from Kenya to receive them and make the necessary arrangements.

The federation's secretary general Allan Chenane was expected here to head the advance party.

The team was stranded at the Accra airport for about three hours before the accompanying officials finally got assistance from James Njeru, a Kenyan national resident here, who booked them at the Wangara Hotel where Ghana's national team Black Stars stay during their training camp.

Both officials and players expressed disappointment that no Kenyan official was at hand to make the necessary arrangements of the training camp as expected.

Yesterday morning, coach Jacob Mulee and his technical bench met with Ghana national team coach Buckhard Ziese, a German national, who assured the Kenyans of maximum support during their training here.

Ziese said he will arrange for the three friendly matches.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia's St George want Harambee Stars striker Francis Chinjili to rejoin the club as soon as possible.

St George have demanded that he flies back to Addis Ababa from Accra and they travel to Lome for Kenya's match against Togo.

Chinjili is currently the top scorer in the Ethiopian Premier League.

The former Mumias striker had a great game against Mauritania on Friday.

Subsequently, Stars' coach Mulee has released the striker who flew out to Addis Ababa via Nairobi yesterday.