Nick Mwendwa to spend weekend in police cell

Nick Mwendwa was on October 17, 2020 re-elected as FKF president for the second 4-year term. [File, Standard]

Embattled Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa will spend the weekend in police custody.

Mwendwa is being held at the Muthaiga Police Station following his arrest on Friday.

The under-fire FKF boss’s lawyer, Eric Mutua, told The Standard that police refused to grant him bail, saying they had a lot of questions that Mwendwa needed to respond to.

He will be arraigned on Monday, November 15. It remains unclear whether police would seek more days to hold him in custody.

The 42-year-old is being investigated for alleged misappropriation of FKF funds, allegations that he has vehemently denied.

The government says the use of at least Sh500 million FKF funds is being scrutinised.

Mwendwa was arrested at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Westlands, Nairobi, where he was meeting Harambee Stars players ahead of their World Cup qualifier match against Rwanda on Monday, November 15.

A caretaker team is currently running football affairs in the country after FKF was disbanded by Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed on Thursday.

The committee, led by retired judge Aaron Ringera, will be in operation for six months as the FKF audit continues.

On Friday, the committee suspended football games in Kenya, including FKF Premier League and Super League, for two weeks to allow for probe into FKF’s finances.

On Thursday, Nick Mwendwa vowed to oppose the committee’s assumption to office, saying he was still in charge of FKF operations "unless FIFA says otherwise".