FKF election: Sammy Owino vows to end corruption in football
Ex-international Sammy Owino (left) and Sam Sholei (right) and Charity Wangoma (centre), Director of Bondeni FC in Eldoret on May 19, 2023.
Sammy “Kempes” Owino stands out among the eight candidates vying for the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) presidency as the only one with first-hand experience of playing football at the highest level.
The 64-year-old was a dominant midfielder for Luo Union, Gor Mahia and Harambee Stars in the 1970s and 1980s.
He announced his bid for the FKF presidency in May last year shortly after returning to Kenya from the United States where he relocated in 1992 after securing a soccer scholarship with Alabama A & M University in Huntsville, Alabama, for a course in Electrical Engineering.
While in the US, Owino started a youth soccer club called AYSES (Advanced Youth Soccer Educational Systems) in Texas in 1992, dedicating himself to nurturing football talents.
Owino candidacy was in doubt because of a provision for eligibility.
That anyone vying for the positions of FKF president, vice president, National Executive Committee member must have been involved in active football for at least two of the last five years.
That “active in football” was presumably in Kenya and with an entity affiliated to FKF.
However the FKF Electoral Board cleared Owino and the seven other candidates on October 21.
The former Kenya international, named Nzoia Sugar chairman Evans Kadenge as his running mate.
The vision of the retired footballer is “for football to serve as an example of the country’s potential if things are done correctly.”
Good governance, building of infrastructure and “building everything from grassroots” are the three core pillars of his vision.
Owino says his administration will eliminate corruption in the federation while hiring will be based purely on competency.
He will ensure inclusivity, transparency and accountability in all activities of the federation.
To create a conducive training and playing environment, the retired footballer has promised to improve infrastructure countrywide.
He hopes to achieve this by negotiating for the federation’s involvement in stadiums built by the national and county governments, lobbying the government for public/private partnerships and advocating for donation of land or giving tax breaks.
He wants to improve youth football by establishing youth leagues starting from primary to secondary schools in association with the learning institutions through the Ministry of Education.
He envisages teachers being trained to be coaches.
Building an academy in every region, starting non-school leagues, creating county, regional and national tournaments and coming up with an all-star team for sub-county, county and region that feed players into the national teams are some of the other ways Owino plans to develop youth football in the country.
“The goal is to ensure every youth with potential receives good coaching and can play at the level they deserve,” said Owino.
The Gor Mahia great will create autonomous leagues from the Football Kenya Federation Premier League to sub county leagues by hiring professionals to run them, have clubs and federations as part of the board, award meaningful prize money, and award meaningful sponsorship money.
He wants to replicate that in women’s football.
Additionally, the sponsorship for the women’s league will be independent of the men’s league while he will also look for international sponsorship.
Fighting corruption, enhance efficiency, data management and manipulation and player tracking are the other ways, Owino says, his administration plans to use to run the game.
In bringing fans back to the stadium, he intends to invest in security, enhance entertainment value by improving the quality of the matches, including pre-game and half time entertainment.
Owino grew up in Ziwani Estate, Nairobi where he honed his football skills.
He was a beneficiary of the Youth Olympic Centres that were run by Polish-German manager Bernhard Zgoll in the 1970s and 1980s.
