Why trouble is brewing beneath the surface, days after FKF elections

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) recently held its national elections with incumbent Nick Mwendwa and his team sweeping the boards, heralding a new chapter for the troubled Kenyan game.

But, wait a minute! It’s not over yet, and this latest round of elections could be the start of yet another chapter of wrangles that are now the trademark of Kenyan football.

As Mwendwa’s “Team Blue” was celebrating what appears to have been a convincing victory, trouble has been brewing beneath the surface with a government-sanctioned round of the federation’s branch elections being held systematically behind the scenes.

Uasin Gishu County officials were the latest to be handed certificates after elections of the Uasin Gishu County Football Association (UGCFA) witnessed by none other than the Sports Registrar Rose Wasike and her team of officials from the State Department of Sports.

According to investigations by Nation Sport, a new football organisation – tentatively called the Kenya Football Association – could be registered and supported by the government.

Speaking at the close of a four-day retreat of WRC Safari Rally headquarters staff at the Flamingo by Pride Inn Resort and Spa on Saturday, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed was non-committal on the simmering break-up.

“I’m waiting for my officers to brief me on this issue and present their reports, and then we shall know the way forward,” Amina said.

On Wednesday, FKF President Nick Mwendwa disassociated himself from new outfits being cleared by the Sports Registrar, saying his office will not recognise them.

“I have no problem if those counties conduct their activities in whichever way. What should be clear is that they are not part of FKF and Fifa,” said Mwendwa.

“I am aware they have also registered other counties. They are not our members and we have already informed Fifa of this development. Any FKF member who associates himself or herself with that entity will be sanctioned.”

Sports Act

But the writing was on the wall ahead of the national polls when, Wasike, the CS’s trusted, top official in the registration of sports organs, wrote an elaborate letter objecting to FKF’s national elections being held on October 17 before everything was aligned to the Sports Act.

Also present at the UGCFA elections at Pioneer’s Homecraft Social Hall, the first in a series of county elections set to be held across the 38 counties that have so far aligned to the Sports Act as required by the government, were Commissioner of Sports Jefferson Gitonga his assistant Richard Ombeba and Kenya National Paralympics Committee official Rose Chesang.

Paul Tororei was elected chairman, beating Daniel Ngetich by 17-05 votes while Edwin Limo was elected secretary, beating Aggrey Muhanji 19-03 and David Simiyu Mustapha treasurer, beating Jonah Limo 21-01.

Also elected were Charity Wangoma “Mama Diof” as the women’s representative, unopposed, and Moses Kibet who was also elected Youth Representative, also unopposed.

Counties which have so far been given a clean bill of health by the Sports Registrar to hold elections after aligning with the Sports Act include: Upper Rift Region: Elegy Market, Nandi West Pokot, Turkana, Trans Nzoia; Western Region: Kakamega, Busia, Vihiga, Bungoma; Nyanza Region: Kisii, Nyamira, Migori and Lower Rift: Baringo, Kajiado, Nakuru.

Others are Central Region: Nyeri, Laikipia, Kirinyaga, Eastern Region: Embu, Tharaka-Nithi, Machakos, Kitui, Makueni; Northern Region: Mandera, Garisa; Coast Region: Mombasa, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi and Nairobi.

Put house in order

Wasike had flagged down the October 17 FKF elections, advising the federation to put its house in order before going ahead with the polls. In her letter dated October 15 to FKF acting Secretary General/ CEO Barry Otieno, Wasike raised several issues the government felt had not been done right prior to the planned polls.

According to her, the election returns for FKF County/Branch elections had not been submitted to her office by the returning officer yet the returning officer and observers needed to do so within seven days after the elections.

“It is a requirement under Paragraph 20 (3) of the Sports Registrar Regulations of 2nd September, 2016, that an observer in an election and the Returning Officer submit separate reports to the Sports Registrar on the credibility of the held elections. However, none of the two submitted the said reports,” she said.

“Further, your submission of the newly-elected officials was submitted one day after the deadline for submission which ended on 11th October, 2020, as it needed to be within 21 days from the date the elections were held.

“I have also noted that the notification of the newly elected office bearers was not done in the prescribed Form ‘R’ set out in the First Schedule of the Sports Registrar Regulations as required under Paragraph 20(4) of the Sports Registrar Regulations”, her letter to FKF said in part.

Not registered

Wasike also noted with concern that FKF officials had not conformed to Paragraph 20 (2) (f) which requires any organisation carrying out elections to ensure that the nominated candidates obtain clearance from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

“You submitted the list of officials who were elected without copies of their Clearance Certificates hence meaning that they vied for positions without the requisite clearance by the above Government agencies and therefore they were in violation of Paragraph 20 (2) (f) of the Sports Registrar Regulations”, Wasike noted in her letter.

According to the registrar’s letter, most of the counties that participated in elections to elect county officials had not been registered by her office by September 19, 2020, therefore flouting sections 46 (1) of the Sports Act (Revised Edition 2013) which states that: “A body shall not operate as a Sports Organization unless it is registered under this Act”.

“This therefore means that un-recognised entities and persons who are not recognised by the Sports Act were used to elect office bearers of FKF County Sports Associations/Branches; the term “Branch” which in the Sports Registrar Regulations is defined to mean the organisational unit of a national sports body at the County Level and “a County Sports Association” is also defined by the same Sports Registrar Regulations to mean a branch of a national sports body whose area of operation is within a county or a sports organization whose reach is only in a county,” her letter to FKF said.

According to the Registrar, Part I of the Sports Act defines the two terms to mean the same as follows: “branch” meaning the organisational unit of a national sports body at the county level; and “County Sports Association” meaning a branch of a national sports body whose area of operation is within a county, or a sports organization whose reach is only in a county.”

The registrar in her letter, therefore, raised pertinent questions as whether the term “Branch” and “County Sports Association” meant the same.

“Which elections were held, whether branch elections or county elections? and who was eligible to vote,” she wondered.

“My interpretation, unless otherwise, is that a “County Sports Association” and a “Branch” means the same thing and, therefore, only registered County Sports Associations and their interim officials should have been allowed to vote according to section 46 of the Sports Act (Revised Edition 2013) which is very clear that an organisation cannot operate as a sports organisation if not registered under the Sports Act,” she argued.

Wasike said the Sports Registrar is empowered by Section 46 (2) to register a Sports Organization as either a Sport Club, a County Sports Association or a National Sports Organization and stressed that for an organisation to participate in elections or vote in officials of a Sports Organisation or be affiliated to any sports organisation, it must be registered by her office and be legally recognised under section 46 of the Sports Act which has not been done by the FKF.

“I have received complaints through letters and calls that Football Kenya Federation (FKF) used unregistered entities/ persons and officials of registered County Associations that they never initiated their registration and also used the names of interim officials of County Sports Associations as opponents to their aspiring candidates without their knowledge and approval (enclosed, find a letter from their Advocate attesting to the same, some of the complaint letters from them),” her letter said, adding that some of the officials that appeared in various counties as having vied for various positions were nominated in their absence.

She argued that FKF used the list that was nullified twice by the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) when it quashed/nullified the first and second county elections without their permission in the election that were held on November 19, 2020.

Wasike, further, said FKF had failed to attach integrity clearance certificates for candidates nominated to vie for various positions, their details and County Sports Associations and Sports Clubs that were to vote plus the names of the voters from all counties and clubs that need to vote.

“It is unfortunate that you have failed to dispense your duty as a national sports organisation to initiate the process of registering Branches/County Football Sports Associations that needed to be affiliated to FKF and you have, therefore, left the responsibility to stakeholders to fill the gap while Paragraph 4 (3) (c) and (d) of the Sports Registrar Regulations places the responsibility on national sports organizations to initiate the process of registering branches/county sports associations,” the registrar said.

The registrar then advised the FKF not to proceed with their national elections they had planned to allow them put their house in order and conform to the national laws of the Country and Fifa statutes before proceeding with the elections.

David Simiyu Mustapha, the newly-elected UGCFA treasurer, said they will hold a national delegates conference to appoint a government-backed “Kenya Football Association” interim committee that will run football matters in the country.

This is reminiscent of the 2007 impasse when two football bodies - a government-backed interim committee headed by Peter Ochiel and the Fifa-backed federation headed Mohammed Hatimy.

Troubled started in 2005 when Alfred Sambu, who had then been elected Kenya Football Federation chairman in 2004 at elections held at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, was toppled by his vice-chairman Mohamed Hatimy who called a delegates conference at the Stem Hotel, Nakuru.

Sambu had been accused of financial impropriety and league mismanagement, allegations he denied in a move which prompted 10 premier league clubs to bolt out of the KFF.

Lodvick Aduda, who was the acting secretary-general when an interim committee was formed in 2007 at the 680 Hotel in Nairobi, headed by Peter Ochiel, believes forming an interim committee in Kenya today would be the best way forward for the country.

“We formed an interim committee which organised elections that were backed by the government,” Aduda reminisced. “We filed a case at the Court of Arbitration in Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, which took two years to hear the case, but finally concluded that we hold an all-inclusive election and form a new federation.”

Aduda added that it was then that he signed a Memorandum of Understanding along with Sam Nyamweya for the government-backed KFF while Mohmmed Hatimy and Mohammed Aziz signed on behalf of the Fifa-backed and newly-formed Football Kenya Limited. An all-inclusive election was held in 2011.

Nyamweya won and a new body, the Football Kenya Federation, was then duly registered and has been running football to date, with Mwendwa having succeeded Nyamweya.