Why key aspirants are unhappy with operations of FKF Electoral Board
Football Kenya Federation Electoral Board members from left: Dan Mule, Merceline Sande, Hesbon Owilla, James Waindi and Alfred Ngang’a during their unveiling at the Kempinski Hotel in Nairobi on September 23, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Mohamed, considered a front runner for the president post, said the board has poor communication formula and is not addressing contentious issues.
- “What format of petitions are they going to accept from branches that are not happy with the voter register? The board needs to be clear in how they communicate and very transparent in how they are managing the entire process,” said Mohamed.
Several aspirants in the forthcoming Football Kenya Federation elections have accused the Electoral Board of working against having a free and fair process.
Board chairman Hesbon Owila, however said they can only respond to concerns that are formally presented to them.
Sam Nyamweya, Lordvick Aduda, Hussein Mohamed, Tom Alila and Sam Ochola, who have shown interesting in vying for the top seat, have taken issue with the legality of elections scheduled to take place on December 7, the two-day time for cleaning of the register of the delegates, inclusion of clubs which are not eligible to participate in the polls and the independence of the board.
They also claim that the recently released register of delegates contained names that were not genuine club officials. They wondered how the names were included in the list.
“Elections should happen at least six months after the passing of the electoral code and formation of the board. This is according to regulations of Fifa Standard Electoral Code Article 4 (3),” said Aduda. He reckoned that the elections are already illegal and can’t be held on December 7 since the electoral code was passed on August 24.
“The time lines released can’t provide for any free and fair FKF elections because as it stands the agenda is already set to rig the elections. Everything is being done outside the law and the board seems to be working on instructions of the current FKF leadership,” said the experienced football administrator.
“I want to promise the board that there will be no elections if they dare clear Nick Mwendwa. We are watching them and they should move their base from Kandanda House to the Ministry of Sports offices with speed,” said Ochola.
Nyamweya decried the absence of an Appeals Board. “This was a serious omission by the congress. In case of disagreements with the process, there is no board where appeals will be channelled. The Electoral Board has no mandate to handle appeals,” said Nyamweya who served as FKF President from 2011-2016.
Mohamed, considered a front runner for the president post, said the board has poor communication formula and is not addressing contentious issues.
“What format of petitions are they going to accept from branches that are not happy with the voter register? The board needs to be clear in how they communicate and very transparent in how they are managing the entire process,” said Mohamed.
