Transition Committee fills the void in football management
Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed makes her remarks during the launch of the newly installed six-lane artificial track at Kenyatta University at Kenyatta University on May 13, 2022.
What you need to know:
- When she announced the Justice (rtd) Aaron Ringera-led Caretaker Committee CS Amina was faced with a myriad of hurdles by some football followers — especially those sympathetic to the cause of the disgraced former FKF boss Nick Mwendwa — who thought that the CS had committed a foul thus deserving a yellow card, if not an outright red card.
- According to those in this school of thought, Mwendwa was the right man for the job and should have been left to run with his showboating—despite an audit report unearthing missing millions of shillings and other acts of malfeasance on part of the president.
Two interesting pieces of news filtered through this week and they both make for interesting reading not only because they are interconnected but also because they have a direct bearing on the future of football in our country.
In the first item, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed formed a new team to run football even as the term of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Caretaker Committee she had appointed earlier ended.
There was a lacuna in football operations, a situation that affected football negatively if the decision by Gor Mahia not to travel to Bukhungu Stadium to take on Talanta FC is anything to go by.
The second was the yet unconfirmed report that another round of “Mashemeji”derby could be on the cards this time on Madaraka Day (June 1) as a “kwaheri” gift to outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta as he presides over the last of such celebrations before a new Head of State is elected on August 9.
When she announced the Justice (rtd) Aaron Ringera-led Caretaker Committee CS Amina was faced with a myriad of hurdles by some football followers — especially those sympathetic to the cause of the disgraced former FKF boss Nick Mwendwa — who thought that the CS had committed a foul thus deserving a yellow card, if not an outright red card.
According to those in this school of thought, Mwendwa was the right man for the job and should have been left to run with his showboating—despite an audit report unearthing missing millions of shillings and other acts of malfeasance on part of the president.
In some warped logic, these people gave the impression that Mwendwa was the be all and end all of our football.
In other words, with Mwendwa out of office then Kenyan football — or indeed Kenya as a country and its millions of citizens — were headed to the hottest and darkest part of Hades.
Okay, Mwendwa is still out of our football since November last year and as much as I have tried to follow the news, I am yet to hear of anyone who had an upset stomach, a recurrent headache, bad eyesight or even death because of Mwendwa not being in charge of our football.
As a columnist with this newspaper Charles Nyende aptly captured, there is nothing seismic that will happen just because of our footballing standards going south, a sad state of affairs blame for which the esteemed auditors laid right at Mwendwa’s doorstep.
As any well-meaning Kenyan, I hope that the interim committee the CS appointed on Thursday will speed its work and set us on the path to bringing back some semblance of sanity into our football.
My other hope is that when elections are finally called criminals and other elements of poor upbringing will not be allowed into our football.
I am not naïve to believe that weeding out the crooks will be a walk in the park. Having spent some time covering cases in courts and reading crime novels, I am alive to the fact that criminals come in all forms and shapes, some come with First Class degrees from reputable universities, others left school at the young age of 13 after having serious academic disagreements with their teachers.
Finally, on to the idea of another slugging it out between K’Ogalo and Ingwe, I must say I am overjoyed with that prospect.
I was one of the hundreds of fans who were at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani two Sundays ago as the two clubs battled to a one all draw.
Two things stood out for me — that it is indeed possible to have fans flocking back to the stadium and that as matters stand right now, AFC Leopards have overtaken their Gor Mahia counterparts in terms of numbers and the passion they bring to the game.
