Change that never was: Another era and error in Kenyan football

Repeated allegations of financial impropriety perpetrated by Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa that borders on the criminal, and the brave fight by one man to bring him to account has echoes of another era and error.

In March 2000, the late Maina Kariuki was elected chairman of Kenya Football Federation (now Football Kenya Federation). Kariuki was then a senior marketing executive in a multinational company. 

It was expected that he would bring management best practice of the corporate world to a football federation that was hitherto run like, for want of a better word, a local village kiosk.

Indeed Kariuki had successfully sold himself to the delegates as the saviour of Kenyan football, with the alluring slogan “A New Beginning".

But his tenure was marked with numerous accusations of corruption including misusing and embezzling millions of shillings from Fifa funds and failing to account for gate receipts from international matches involving Harambee Stars.

In a paper titled “Greed vs Good Governance: The fight for corruption-free football in Kenya” presented at the Fourth World Communication Conference on Governance in Sport in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2005, Mathare United chairman Bob Munro succinctly enumerated the failures of the Kariuki office.

Here are excerpts: The theft of over 20 per cent in KFF deductions from the gate receipts for local matches; The misuse and embezzlement of over Sh55 million of KFF and Fifa funds; The failure to pay KFF debts and awards owed to the clubs, players and referees; The failure to allow KFF member clubs to inspect the KFF accounts; The failure to circulate annual KFF audited accounts for four years; The failure to apply the football rules firmly and fairly to all clubs equally; The failure to consult or inform clubs on arbitrary changes in the KFF rules.

To illustrate how deep the rot went, a copy of the KFF audit for 2000 was leaked, revealing major irregularities. A report published by Africa Centre for Open Governance in July 2010, “Foul Play: “The Crisis of Football Management in Kenya”, indicates that, in the KFF audit of that year, for instance, only Sh2.1 million was recorded for gate collections during 2000, although the season witnessed over 300 league, cup and continental matches!

Meanwhile, stadium expenses grew from Sh785,225 in 1999 to Sh2.3 million in 2000, although 150 fewer matches were played that year!

Little wonder, Kariuki, along with his secretary general the late Hussein Swaleh and treasurer the late Mohammed Hatimy were eventually jointly charged in court in July 2004 with the theft of over Sh55 million of KFF and Fifa funds.

The KFF honchos were represented by respected Senior Counsel James Orengo.

It is during these times that eight Premier League clubs gathered under an organization called the Inter-Clubs Consultative Group (ICCG) – the precursor to the Kenyan Premier League, to relentlessly fight the misrule and mismanagement at the federation.

The government had to act, disbanding the federation twice. The first time, a court reinstated the Kariuki regime, the second time led to a Fifa ban and subsequent formation of a normalization committee.

Fast forward to February 2016, and a young, techprenuer Nick Mwendwa, leading the so-called “Team Change”, swept to the top seat of the federation promising to revolutionise the running of the game in the country.

But the changes he promised seem to be a return to the days of misrule witnessed in the 2000s.

The federation leadership has rode roughshod over everybody, its leadership recklessly disregarding the rulebook.

I have repeatedly mentioned the illegalities committed by the FKF president, from signing major deals when he had no powers to do so, to actually heading an entity that has not met the legal requirements of the country to operate as a sports entity.

Mwendwa has never satisfactorily explained how the federation spent over $1.35 million (about Sh150 million) on an OB van that was never delivered, and the Sh244 million government funding for the 2019 Afcon. Questions linger on how the hundreds of millions of shillings in Fifa grants have been utilised at Kandanda House. 

But unlike, in the 2000s when clubs boldly fought a rogue federation, this time round the battle has been waged by a brave journalist, Milton Nyakundi.

The former KBC sports anchor, risking life and limb, has doggedly taken on the federation with numerous substantive suits.

Last week Nyakundi scored a major victory when the High Court ruled that the DCI and DPP were free to investigate, prosecute and jail Mwendwa if he was found to be involved in financial malpractice. The court also ruled Nyakundi, as a Kenyan citizen, had the right to demand for accountability from FKF, an organisation open to the public.

Mwendwa, represented by Senior Counsel Tom Ojienda, had sought to stop the government from probing the financial management of the federation arguing that the investigations were unconstitutional and violated his rights as a person.

Nyakundi lodged a complaint with Banking Fraud Investigation Unit over the direct transfer of millions of shillings from the federation’s to Mwendwa’s personal accounts.

Details of the transactions is what prompted the DCI to seek more information by summoning Mwendwa who hightailed it to the court for “protection”.

Sports Minister Amina Mohamed has now directed the Sports Registrar Rose Wasike to inspect the operations of the federation.

What better way would there be for Mwendwa to clear the air and his name other than to welcome this audit?

In fact, rather than complaining and hitting out as Kariuki’s team did before him, Mwendwa should insist that Wasike tags along DCI officers, Auditor General technocrats, Fifa officials, the works, to do a thorough forensic analysis of the federation, and in public, so that this matter can be brought to rest once and for all.

Unless he has something to hide.