Football matters in court have everything to do with rule of law
Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa.
What you need to know:
- Billions have been lost on the altar of corruption, embezzlement and poor administrative decisions.
- President Ruto needs to pick up the phone and speak with Gianni Infantino to end this senseless drama.
Why have I been at the forefront in calling out the malaise at Kandanda House? Why have I been on a quest to have the courts make determinations that have sealed the fate of the former officials, led by Nick Mwendwa?
It must be understood that what has happened during the reign of Mwendwa is nothing but a cosmetic attempt to hoodwink Kenyans that our football is developing.
The grandeur of big-money sponsorships, the glamorous outfits of the national teams, the trumpeting of how many coaches, referees and administrators have had their skills honed and the apparently successful youth development programmes across the country; all have nothing to do with impacting the game, but an avenue for money to be siphoned out of the football coffers.
Billions have been lost on the altar of corruption, embezzlement, misappropriation and poor administrative decisions. These are the issues I have been speaking against and I need not regurgitate the fact that Mwendwa’s has been nothing but a disastrous era that represents everything about how not to lead a federation that had the public goodwill and financial investment his election in 2016 came with.
Non-interference principle
This is a regime that abused the privilege of world governing body -- Fifa, to undermine Kenyan laws and apply the non-interference principle to suggest they were beyond reproach and the call to accountability did not apply to them even when national interest and taxpayers' monies were the central issues.
My unwavering position is that Fifa Statutes and Kenyan laws are not in conflict and they must all be read together for the country to get the way forward for Kenyan football potential to be unlocked.
This is the principal reason why I have been in and out of court to defend the rule of law. Mwendwa, having been lawfully removed by ex-CS Amina Mohammed when she invoked Section 54(2) of the Sports Act, cannot come back, and the sacked CS Ababu Namwamba’s act of reinstating his team was illegal.
New CS Kipchumba Murkomen must direct Mwendwa to write to Fifa categorically stating that his time, together with that of his National Executive Committee ended on November 12, 2021.
The time has come for Zurich to work with the government to appoint a Normalization Committee as provided under Article 8(2) of the Fifa Statutes, which is in line with Section 54(2) of the Sports Act.
Growth of Kenyan football
This neutral body would earn the trust of the stakeholders and goodwill of all Kenyans in managing the affairs of the federation, including conducting elections.
Better still, President William Ruto needs to pick up the phone and speak with Gianni Infantino and ask for his collaboration to end this senseless drama scripted by Mwendwa and his godfathers at Fifa.
If Murkomen fails to do this, then the country must rest assured that the litigation will never end and the growth of Kenyan football will stagnate.
I will not relent in my quest to have the rule of law complied with and good governance practiced for the good of the game.
