The national men’s basketball team arrived safely in Yaounde, Cameroon Monday afternoon despite visa hitches which delayed their departure at Jomo Kenyatta international Airport by three hours.
Morans were initially booked on an Ethiopian Airlines that was to depart Nairobi for Yaounde at 5am with a brief stop over in Ethiopia, but the Airline officials could not allow them to board due to lack of Cameroonian entry visas
It took the intervention of top government officials, who were present at the airport to change the team to a Kenya Airways flight, after Cameroonoam Immigration officials confirmed they had written to Kenya Airways and not Ethiopian Airlines to allow the team to travel without visas and get them on arrival/
"We had a letter from the Immigration department of Cameroon indicating that the team contingent would get thier visas on arrival as has been the case whenever we travel for major international events.
However, this information was communicated only to Kenya Airways and not Ethiopian Airlines where the team was booked, forcing us to change flights at the last minute," said Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) treasurer Peter Orero, who opted out of the trip for newly elected federation Secretary Generalm Ambrose Kisoi.
Orero said the team landed safely at 2pm and were recieved by the Cameroon Basketball Association officials who took them to the bubble.
Owing to the lack of space in the Kenya Airways flight, only the 13 players, coaches, team manager, team doctors and Head of Delegation Kisoi as well as his assistant Joseph Amoko, made the trip
The other government officials who were to accompany the team had to reschedule thier travel.
"The team and technical staff are already in Cameroon taking the mandatory 24 hours quarantine before taking to the courts to finalise preparations for their championship opener against Senegal on February 19," Orero said.
The foreign legion quartet of Joel Awich, Ariel Okal, Tylor Okari and Preston Kiprono Bungei were expected to link up with the rest of the players in Cameroon later Monday.
