FKF leadership crisis: FIFA chief Veron Mosengo-Omba’s role in poll crisis questioned

Football Kenya President (FKF) Nick Mwendwa (C), his vice Dorris Petra (R) and acting CEO Barry Otieno address journalists on the state of Kenyan football at a Nairobi hotel on October 29, 2019 [Photo/Stafford Ondego]

FIFA’s Chief Member Associations Officer, Veron Mosengo-Omba, should be excluded from efforts to resolve the Kenyan situation until his role in the Sh125million of FIFA Forward Funds the FKF sunk in the now insolvent WTS Media Group Ltd, a group calling itself Football Stakeholders have said.

The group, composed of interested parties that challenged FKF’s petition at the SDT, which FIFA has since trashed said, Mosengo-Omba’s role in the deal could be the “elephant in the room” regarding the Kenyan situation.

“It has to be clear, because there are things that do not add up especially how FIFA has now turned around to trash the same SDT it has previously upheld its decisions,” Lordvick Aduda, an aspirant in the FKF elections, said.

As the FIFA’s Member Associations boss, Mosengo-Omba, who incidentally approved the acquisition of the now undelivered OB van having sent technical people to evaluate the OB van in Nairobi, has the final call on the Kenyan situation.

When news surfaced in Kenya that WTS Media Group Ltd had gone into receivership on April 11 last year Standard Sports contacted Mosengo-Omba on October 22, who directed our inquiries to FIFA.

The world football body said at the time: “FIFA has been notified of the non-delivery of the FKF broadcast vans. In this respect, we are still waiting to receive a full report from the FKF’s lawyers on this matter.”

Subsequent follow-ups with Mosengo-Omba have gone unanswered.

The Joint Administrators of WTS Media Group Ltd, have since classified FKF’s Sh125million under the ‘unsecured’ creditors. While the secured creditors stand a better chance of recovering what they are owed, “unsecured” creditor, which FKF is, will have to settle for whatever can be salvaged from WTS Media Group’s accounts.

Stakeholders’ rebuttal to FIFA letter

(Interested parties to FKF’s petition)

1. FIFA is in grave error in its interpretation of the ruling and by suggesting that the Sports Disputes Tribunal is not the ultimate National Arbitration Tribunal on matters Sport in Kenya and fails to meet the standard set by the FIFA circular 1010 dated 20th December 2005. The author has failed to demonstrate or point out which areas of (international) arbitration standards the establishment of the SDT has offended or fallen short of.

2. FIFA has erred in law and in fact by asserting that the FKF Statutes do not recognise the Sports Disputes Tribunal as a National Tribunal yet the FKF is conditionally registered under the Sports Act 2013, the same law that establishes the SDT as the sole National Arbitration Tribunal, whose jurisdiction (original and appellate) all sports entities in Kenya must submit to. Kenya does not have any other National Sports Disputes Tribunal and the SDT operates within the international standards including the applicable international conventions that guide the operations of Arbitration Tribunals

3. FIFA is in contradiction of its own position on the jurisdiction of the SDT, whose decision it has in the past agreed with and even directed the FKF to comply with so it is preposterous that they can purport to rubbish the legal effect of the SDT decision on FIFA

4. It is suggesting that FIFA (being a registered legal entity in Switzerland) and Caf (being a registered entity in Egypt) can operate outside the confines of the Laws of the country they are hosted in, which is not the case. It follows then that FKF cannot be allowed to operate in defiance of Kenyan laws and even their own Constitution. In any case, the FIFA Statutes and their application within the context of the Kenyan Law is premised on Article 2 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, which provides that any contravention (of any manner, including by interpretation) is null and void to the extent of the contravention. We maintain that this interpretation of FIFA Statutes and their authority contradicts the Kenyan Constitution and as such is not tenable and the Kenya’s Supreme Law prevails

5. Being an international organisation of repute, FIFA is encouraging its affiliate in the Republic of Kenya to contravene Kenyan laws, which is an unacceptable position. Kenyan Laws are very clear on the term of office question and there is no legal premise upon which Mr Mosengo-Omba can purport to extend the term of office of Mr.Nick Mwendwa and his colleagues. The SDT decision on the term of office is final and irreversible

6. FIFA is being selective on which parts of the decision to comply with because it is the same former officials of FKF that moved the SDT, which decided in favour of the FKF on a number of issues they had raised. It is a shame that they want to choose which aspects of the decision to agree with and celebrate but cite jurisdiction on matters that have gone against them. What if the decision had been entirely in their favour?

7. Inviting a meeting “of [...] the SDT representative(s), the Minister of Sport and any other relevant stakeholders in order to find a way forward” is evidence that they are cornered and are trying to seek a mischievous way out of the corner they find themselves in. Knowing FIFA, they would have been categorical that the FA is properly constituted and there would not be any need for a meeting with anyone.

 

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