Tough electoral rules for FKF aspirants in December polls

FKF President Nick Mwendwa is escorted by security men after he was elected during the FKF Special General Meeting and National Elections held at Kasarani, Indoor Arena on Wednesday, Feb 10, 2016 [Courtesy]

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has released tough electoral rules ahead of national elections in December this year.

The code will be discussed and adopted at the federation’s Annual General Meeting set to be held on October 5 at a Nairobi hotel.

For the first time, candidates seeking to be elected as president must have a running mate who will become his deputy if elected.

“Each candidate for the position of president must present a running mate. Failure to do that will lead to disqualification,” says part of the 26-page electoral code.

Candidates for the two positions will have to meet tough conditions among them receiving support from nine entities of the federation.

These include at least five branches and one club taking part in the Kenyan Premier League, National Super League, national Division One league, Women Premier League and women Division One league.

A branch or a club can only give support to one candidate and those who give more than one support will be declared invalid.

This new rule is to avoid the mischief of branches giving support to more than one candidate as has happened in past elections.

Declaration to support a particular candidate by a branch must be signed by the branch chairman and secretary while club chairmen will sign the declaration for support of a particular contestant.

The code further makes it mandatory for candidates seeking top positions to adhere to chapter six of the constitution which include getting clearance from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, present a certificate of good conduct as well as tax compliance.

“A candidate for the president’s position whose running mate does not meet the above conditions will be disqualified as their candidature will not be accepted,” explains the code.

Candidates seeking the position of president and vice president will pay a nomination fee of Sh400,000 each.

Those seeking a National Executive Committee (NEC) post will pay Sh150,000 while those seeking the post of county chairman will pay Sh100,000.

The fee is non-refundable and is paid when one picks the nomination papers even before their eligibility is decided.

As a general rule, the code makes it mandatory for all people seeking elective posts to have been active in football in various capacities either as an executive member, referee, assistant referee, coach, trainer, technical official, medic, player or administrator in three of the last four years before being proposed as a candidate.

Candidates seeking to be elected to any of the 11 NEC posts must receive support from at least five members of the federation two of whom are from the region he wants to be elected in and three from other regions.