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A section of Kenyan football stakeholders have accused Sports CS Ababu Namwamba of misrepresenting facts over the FKF elections impasse during his recent Senate visit.
A section of Kenyan football stakeholders have taken issue with Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba, whom they accuse of misrepresenting facts during his appearance at the Senate Committee on Labour & Social Welfare last week.
The stakeholders, drawn from various football umbrella bodies, are not happy with Namwamba’s assertions to the committee over a number of issues among them the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections.
The team feel Namwamba erred by saying the FKF elections have been delayed by petitions over the term of office of the current officials, insisting the process was only stopped by a petition at a Mombasa court that halted an Annual General Meeting primed for March 16, 2024 after the petitioner questioned the legality of those who called it.
“There are no petitions as to the expiry of the term of office of the current officials. It is public knowledge that the term of the current branch officials’ term expires in September 2024 and for the National Executive Committee in October 2024,” the stakeholders said in their statement.
“There are no petitions from any CFA registered under the Sports Act No. 25 of 2013 but not affiliated to FKF on matters elections since the CFAs are not members of FKF. CFAs have not caused any challenges as highlighted in the aforementioned point above.
“The said AGM was stopped by a court sitting in Mombasa in HCJR/E001/2024 Gabriel Mghendi VS Milton Nyakundi that granted stay orders against the holding of the AGM for it being purported to be conducted by an illegal entity. There are no unending/multiple, orders, appeals, reviews that have stopped the AGM as reported by the Cabinet Secretary.”
Stakeholders are not happy that Namwamba did not tell the Senate Committee the deliberations of a meeting that was led by National Olympics Committee of Kenya boss Paul Tergat that sought to bring to and the ongoing standoff.
“The report did not highlight the outcome of stakeholders’ engagement meeting hosted by National Olympics Committee Kenya as of the 8th of May 2024 at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). The majority proposed the formation of a normalization committee - Article 8 (2) FIFA statutes having considered the legal, ethical and trust challenges engulfing Kenyan football,” the statement added.
“The Cabinet Secretary contends that the challenges towards conduct of the elections can only be conducted in accordance with the current FKF constitution which he notes that there cannot be any amendments 1 year prior to the elections.
“Article 32 of the FKF constitution provides for the procedure for amending the FKF constitution and the position by the Cabinet Secretary is not anchored in the FKF Constitution neither is it supported by any law and therefore a misrepresentation before the committee.”
The team feels the CS did not tell the Senate committee the available options for Kenyan football regarding how to solve the current standoff, such as the formation of a normalization committee, that would oversee the transition from the current team to the new one once their term expires.
“The actions of the Cabinet Secretary are conspicuously against the dictates of neutrality and impartiality while finding solutions to the challenges of Kenyan football. It is our strongest belief that he’s been compromised,” the statement further read, while calling for the removal of the CS, whom they accuse of being a stumbling block for the development of Kenyan football.
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