Coast stakeholders want caretaker committee to run football
Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa (centre) addresses journalists at the Kandanda House in Kasarani on June 3, 2020. PHOTO | DAVID KWALIMWA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mohammed said Mwendwa’s continued stay in office poses real danger to the FKF finances, which he still has access to.
- "It is laughable when we are told that Mwendwa should stay on to wait to hand over. That is not his work, because any NEC member and the secretariat can easily hand handover when that time comes", he said.
Coast region football stakeholders now want the government to put in place a normalization committee to take over the running of the sport ahead of the overdue Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections.
Led by former Coast FKF Secretary, Ismael Mohammed, the stakeholders who included current and former administrators, referees and players said they have had enough of the musical chairs at the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) and now want the Sports ministry to step in and take action.
According to them, the current FKF regime’s term of office expired in February as per the constitution and that ought to be respected.
SDT nullified FKF county and national polls in December and March citing irregularities in the way both exercises were conducted.
"The Sports Disputes Tribunal has been doing a good job so far, but made an error by allowing FKF president Nick Mwendwa to stay in office because any work that is remaining at the federation should be done by the Secretariat and not the presidency ", Mohammed, who was speaking at the Mombasa Municipal Stadium Wednesday , said.
According to him, having a normalization committee will restore confidence in all those interested in elective posts and allow stakeholders to choose leaders of their choice without fear of victimization.
According to Mohammad, Kenya has had four normalization committees in the past and does not therefore see anything strange with the government putting one in place with Kenyan football at crossroads.
Mohammed said the decision by Nick Mwendwa to skip the SDT virtual hearing on Tuesday was a clear pointer that he was no longer interested in peaceful transition and should therefore be ignored.
"Mwendwa should first clear his name with the Directorate of Criminal Investigation on several scandals surrounding his tenure at the federation before thinking of any elective positions in future, because as things stand now, no one is interested in his leadership", Mohammed said.
Mohammed said Mwendwa’s continued stay in office poses real danger to the FKF finances, which he still has access to.
"It is laughable when we are told that Mwendwa should stay on to wait to hand over. That is not his work, because any NEC member and the secretariat can easily hand handover when that time comes", he said.
