Football elections: Battle lines drawn for VC seat

By Gilbert Wandera

The vice-chairman’s seat is expected to be as hotly-contested as the chairman’s with a star-studded field of candidates lined up for football elections.

Former international Sammy Sholei appears to be the man to beat given his background and the interest he has attracted.

Sholei appears to have made a tactical move to settle for this post after he stepped down for Hussein Mohammed three months ago. This seems to have paid off.

As a former international, it has been easy for him to endear himself to voters, many of whom feel he has a huge role in developing the sport.

Sholei faces stiff opposition from Mohammed Omar, who has the backing of the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) fraternity.

Omar is favoured if Sam Nyamweya is elected as chairman and KFF then votes as a bloc.

Omar is a long time football administrator from Coast Province. He is the most senior official from the province. He has worked at the branch level for many years and also served in the KFF National Executive Committee (NEC).

Another top contender for this post is former international Noah Wanyama. Wanyama is a father to Real Sociedad midfielder Macdonald Mariga. He is technical advisor for AFC Leopards, and has aligned himself with Football Kenya chairman Mohammed Hatimy.

He is hoping to ride on Hatimy to get into office, considering that he has never been in football administration before.

That could also be his undoing because Hatimy’s faces serious test with voters asking what he will do now.

Titus Kasuve is another candidate for this post, but does not seem to have done a lot of work. Kasuve enjoys incumbency as he is the current FKL senior vice-chairman.

At the National Executive Committee (NEC) level, the battle will be in Nairobi where Nairobi lawyer Robert Asembo and former international Eric Obura are almost on equal footing.

Asembo is, however, a late comer, but he has covered a lot of ground and enjoys wide support. Obura is equally formidable in different parts of the country, given that he is a former excellent player.

In Nyanza, Tom Alila will battle it out with Kisumu lawyer David Otieno and a former international Apollo Otuoro as David Gitari is tipped to win in Rift Valley. Hussein Swaleh will be under pressure to capture Eastern province.

Mohammed Muller has already been elected unopposed as the North Eastern representative.

In Coast Province, youthful Hussein Terry is the favourite in a crowded field that also includes Ricky Solomon and Aziz Mohammed. Henry Kiringa will also be hoping to be elected as the Central Province representative.