Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has moved to solve the electoral paralysis that threatened to kill football in the country by insisting that FKF must hold its elections on or before March 30, 2020, as directed by Fifa and in accordance with the decision of the Sports Dispute Tribunal.
The Cabinet Secretary held a lengthy meeting on Wednesday with FKF President Nick Mwendwa, the Registrar of Sports Rose Wasike and other top football officials in a bid to resolve the conundrum that had caused the postponement of FKF elections twice in a span of three months.
According to sources, CS Amina is keen to ensure that Kenyan football is safe from sanctions by Fifa, insisting that issues about Kenyan football should be resolved in Kenya and not at the Fifa headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland where the battle between FKF, the Sports Disputes Tribunal and Registrar of Sports was headed.
“The CS was unequivocal in her position that these issues must be resolved here in Kenya and not in Zurich. She also expressed the government’s commitment to helping FKF and all other Sports Organisations meet all the legal requirements as spelt out in the Constitution and the Sports Act 2013 to ensure seamless management and ultimate growth of sports in Kenya,” said the source.
According to the minutes from the meeting seen by The Standard, it was agreed that in accordance with the law, elections at the County Sports Associations and league clubs would be held before the national elections which will be held before March 30, 2020, in accordance with Fifa demands. In line with that, the officials elected at the county and league club’s level will be the ones to vote at the national elections.
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“The decision has been arrived at following gainful consultations between the Office of the CS, FKF and Fifa representatives. This will bring to an end month of legal contestations that begun with the suspension of FKF elections by the Registrar of Sports Rose Wasike on November 15, 2019, seven days to the election day and another suspension of the rescheduled elections, slated for December 7, 2019, by the Sports Dispute Tribunal in a ruling dated December 3, 2019.
“A source close to the Cabinet Secretary informed The Standard that the Cabinet Secretary is in touch with all stakeholders to ensure that collaborative efforts are sustained to ensure that sports in general and football in particular, which is the most popular sport in the country are not put in jeopardy at the behest of personal interests.”
