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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

FKF head to Tribunal over elections

Football

By Robin Toskin | Feb 12, 2020

The FA faces tough legal battle against Sports Registrar who they accuse of putting breaks on poll.

In a surprise move that could make or break football boss Nick Mwendwa, FKF has moved to the Sports Disputes Tribunal asking it, among other issues, to declare decisions by the Sports Registrar to call off its elections last year as “unreasonable and unlawful.”

The Sports Registrar, a creature of the Sports Act 2013, triggered a legal storm when she wrote to FKF on November 15 last year informing them that they had not complied with the applicable laws it is registered under when it called for elections.

The Sports Registry headed by Rose Wasike contended that: “It is not proper for FKF to hold elections for County Sports Associations that have not registered in my office and also use non-existent County Sports Associations to vote in officials.”

Last week, FKF filed a petition seeking the Tribunal to find the Sports Registrar to have acted improperly. The SDT chairman John Ohaga has since directed that all interested parties be served.

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“The petitioner shall within five days hereof take out an advertisement in one daily newspaper with wide circulation within the Republic of Kenya notifying interested parties of this institution of the Petition and prayers sought and the details of this petition,” Ohaga’s orders dated February 4 reads in part.

According to FKF, which faces yet another legal conundrum following the expiry of its tenure yesterday, the Tribunal should find its constitution of 2017 sufficient to conduct elections.

Among the FA’s grounds for the petition is that the country was courting a Fifa ban should the elections not be conducted within the time frame ordered by the world football governing body.

“The FKF General Assembly duly ratified a new constitution in the year 2017, regularly and legitimately, and the Respondent (Sports Registrar) has not laid any foundation to warrant her claim that the said constitution is in any way irregular or not aligned to the constitution of Kenya 2010 and the Sports Act,” the petition reads in part.

The latest round of legal sparring trashes recent reports that the Sports Ministry had found a solution to the election impasse.

However, FKF now accuses the Sports Registrar of erroneous interpretation of the law.

“The Respondent’s interpretation of the law portends doom and confusion within the sporting fraternity in Kenya as it is bound to be problematic in the administration of sports by various national sports organisations/federations and in matters of elections specifically,” the petition notes.

The SDT has since certified the matter urgent and listed it for hearing on Wednesday February 19 2020 at 12:30pm.

FKF has until tomorrow to invite interested parties in their suit against Sports Registrar.