End term scorecard: Nick Mwendwa’s hits and misses
Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa.
Sports Reporter, Nation Media Group.
What you need to know:
- Mwendwa, upon assuming office, appeared to have learnt where his bread is buttered.
- The development of women's football is another thing that Mwendwa’s office will be proud of.
Nicholas Kithuku Mwendwa’s election as Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president on February 16, 2016, was received with much expectation from the public.
The youthful administrator, an IT consultant, promised to press the change button on how football was run in the country, restore good relations with clubs, Fifa and the government for the good of the game.
Eight years and a month later, and with the government, through the office of the Sports Registrar having informed Mwendwa in writing that his term in office has lapsed ahead of the FKF polls scheduled for October, the jury is out on how the Kariobangi-bred football administrator has fared.
The FKF boss has been commended by both pundits and critics as his administration is considered an upgrade from that of his predecessors.
Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa addresses delegates during the Special General Meeting at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on January 28, 2020.
From the days when football business was conducted in high-end hotels, cheques signed and messengers sent across town on motorbikes to withdraw money to transact business on behalf of FKF, Mwendwa’s regime is, at the very least, credited with setting up a secretariat at their Fifa Goal Project, Kandanda House, at Kasarani.
The FKF NEC members, unlike in previous regimes that exhibited a lot of disunity, have always spoken with one voice in public in a show of professionalism and unity.
At least that was the case until recently when Nabea Muriithi, the NEC member for Eastern region, publicly questioned the management structure and integrity at FKF.
Muriithi even recently appeared at the side of Extreme Sports Chief Executive Hussein Mohammed at a public function.
Mohammed is considered a rival of Mwendwa and has indicated his intentions of vying for the FKF presidency during polls later this year.
That aside, Mwendwa, upon assuming office, appeared to have learnt – fast – where his bread, as FKF boss, is buttered the most.
Which perhaps explains why he worked twice as hard to maintain good relations with Fifa and CAF.
After all, records show Fifa, football’s world governing body, based in Zurich, and the Cairo-based continental body CAF, have extended close to $15 million (Sh2.09 billion) in development and administration aid to FKF since 2016.
Worth noting is that Mwendwa and his colleagues at FKF, who include the wily Chief Executive Barry Otieno, an ex-journalist, can only account for these monies to Fifa and CAF despite being holders of public office.
Whether these funds have indeed been used for the benefit of Kenyan football is debatable.
Which is why, perhaps, an Outside Broadcasting (OB) Van bought by a Sh135 million Fifa grant to “market Kenyan football” in 2019 disappeared into thin air but no one at FKF or Fifa has been held accountable, yet.
It is on account of the strong relationship with Fifa and CAF that Mwendwa and Otieno enjoy that they seemingly have the courage and drive to take on senior government officials including former Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and Principal Secretaries Kirimi Kaberia and Joe Okudo in public.
Harambee Starlets players celebrate after winning their Women Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Cameroon at Nyayo National Stadium on September 26, 2023.
On the pitch, FKF will take credit for steering Harambee Stars and Harambee Starlets to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, the continent’s football showpiece events.
Harambee Starlets qualified for the 2016 Women Africa Cup of Nations, when Mwendwa was barely a year into office, following a historic victory over bigwigs Algeria.
Former FKF president Nyamweya has however claimed credit for that rare success, charging he is the one who put together the winning team.
Harambee Stars, meanwhile, secured qualification to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt, after a 15-year absence.
This was the second edition of the Afcon that involved an expanded 24-team format.
However, both Kenya teams barely left a mark in their respective African outings and have since struggled to dominate even on the regional front, coming second best to Uganda and Tanzania.
The development of women's football is another thing that Mwendwa’s office will be proud of.
During his reign, the FKF Women's Premier League was launched with considerable help and funding from, Fifa.
The league was previously run haphazardly with little input from the federation.
This development created an estimated hundreds of direct jobs for players, coaches, referees, and other match administrators and club managers.
The women’s game has however gone through many teething challenges especially on the financial front.
Players have, for instance, gone for months without pay.
Efforts to develop the women’s game has seen the emergence of several superstars who have gone on to ply their trade in established leagues in Europe.
These include goalkeeper Annedy Kundu, who is attached to Greek club Ness Atromitou FC, Caroline Rufa, who turns out for Simba Queens in neighbouring Tanzania, French-based Lillian Awuor at ASJ Soyaux Charente and Vivian Nasaka, who plays for Hakkarigucuspor in Turkey.
The federation also achieved a milestone when Vihiga Queens became the first Kenyan team to qualify for the CAF Women’s Champions League in 2021.
Harambee Stars pose for a team photo ahead of the start of their international friendly match against Iran at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on March 28, 2023.
The Mwendwa administration has managed to bring sponsors to the game even though these partners have not matched the value of the previous major sponsors like South African pay TV station SuperSport, giant beverage manufacturer Kenya Breweries Ltd and famous gaming company SportPesa.
SuperSport terminated its annual Sh300 million broadcast rights deal with the Kenyan Premier League after Mwendwa insisted on increasing the size of the league and taking over its management.
The federation secured a short lived Sh1.2 billion deal with betting firm BetKing in 2021.
The same year Odibets signed a deal with FKF worth Sh127 million over three years. StarTimes also agreed to a seven-year deal with FKF, worth about Sh90 million a year.
The Azam seven-year partnership was signed in 2023 and is worth about Sh145 million annually.
Curiously though, most of these sponsors prematurely terminated their agreements citing contract breaches.
Another pat on the back for Mwendwa for a job well done could be for his role in developing coaches and referees.
During his reign, hundreds of coaches and referees have been trained.
Some of the elite coaches who’ve benefited from training courses are Robert Matano, Francis Baraza, Zedekiah Otieno, Sammy Omollo and Anthony Kimani even though complaints persist on reported favouritism in the dishing out of these training opportunities and the high enrolment fees even though some of the programmes are funded by international partners.
Mwendwa could also be allowed to boast that he was part of the team that won the bids to co-host the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (Chan) and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with Uganda and Tanzania.
