FKF crisis: Four FKF presidential aspirants unite in call for free, fair and transparent elections

 

FKF presidential aspirants (from left) Twaha Mbarak, Nicholas Musonye, Lordvick Aduda, and Sammy Sholei at Ole Sereni Hotel, Nairobi, on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. [Stafford Ondego] 

 

Football stakeholders have petitioned the government through the Ministry of Sports, the Sports Tribunal (SDT), and the Registrar of Sports to provide a roadmap on the stalled Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections.

Addressing the media on Tuesday at Ole Sereni Hotel, Nairobi, four presidential aspirants led by former Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye, former FKF vice-presidents Sammy Sholei and Twaha Mbarak alongside ex-FKF CEO Lordvick Aduda, called on the government to help football stakeholders in ensuring the delayed elections are free, fair and transparent.

The exercise has been thrown into jeopardy after the SDT twice nullified the intended FKF elections for violating the Fifa Standard Electoral Code and section 46 (6) as read with Paragraph (d) of the Second Schedule to the Sports Act and Article 81 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

In a joint statement, the aspirants said: “The Sports Disputes Tribunal, in its nullification of the sham FKF elections on two occasions, declared the term of the National Executive Committee (NEC) ended on 10th February 2020 and that the mandate of the Sub-branch and Branch officials ended on January 26th, 2020.”

It added: “Subsequently there was a ruling by the Sports Disputes Tribunal dated 17th March 2020, which declared that the NEC’s term had come to an end having failed to conduct elections in line with the provisions of the Sports Act and Article 38 and 81 of the Constitution of Kenya.

“To put in context the impact of the charades by the erstwhile team, the nod to commence the new season mandated by Fifa and Caf might not be effected due to absence in the office of a legitimate and duly elected National Executive Council (NEC) whose ambit is among other things, determination of the start and close dates of the football calendar of activities.

“The constitution of two crucial committees in the running of football in the country namely, the Players Status Committee and the Leagues & Competitions Committee.

The statement added: “Further, with the impending lapse of the contract of the Kenya Premier League (KPL) in September 2020, the lack of a legitimate and duly elected NEC to deliberate, appraise and issue direction on the matter would occasion a vacuum with respect to the running of the country’s elite league.

“In the same scale, the current leadership team whose term ended, have no mandate whatsoever in law to issue or execute decisions or run the daily affairs of FKF thus offending the provisions of Part B of the FKF Constitution, Article 8 of the FIFA Statutes and flies against the ruling issued by the SDT.

“This implies that FKF currently has no Finance Committee to prepare budgets and expenditures. To this end, the lack of a legitimate and duly elected NEC means no approvals to incur expenses by the secretariat. It is also worth noting that FKF has, in disregard of the governance principles of accountability and the Sports Act, failed to provide audited accounts during their tenure.

“The SDT held that the provisions of section 4 of the Electoral Code crafted by the NEC are unreasonable and designed to lock out potential aspirants and amounted to a gross violation of the principle of free and fair elections contemplated by Section 46 (6) of the Sports Act (2013) as read with paragraph (d) of the Second Schedule to the Act and Articles 38 and 81 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.”

 Football stakeholders’ petitions

-The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations; to institute investigations and consequent prosecution of those engaged in theft of public resource and governance malpractices.

-The Registrar; to invoke Section 52 of the Act and institute an inspection of the books of FKF and submit the Inspection Report to the CS.

-The CS of Sports Amb Amina Mohammed; noting that the files on the misgivings of FKF having been forwarded to her office, that distinguished CS, institutes the process of the audit of FKF accounts.

-SDT: To continue the Stakeholders’ Roundtable meeting which was convened under Article 59 to agree on a roadmap to elections of FKF.

-Sponsor and Corporates; to be careful, refrain and exercise extreme caution in their dealings with the current illegitimate office.