Local stakeholders of football have reacted to the verdict released on Tuesday over the disbandment of Football Kenya Federation(FKF) by Cabinet Secretary Dr Amina Mohamed in November last year.
Led by the former Chief Executive Officer of FKF Premier League side Gor Mahia Lordvick Aduda,the ruling pronounced by Lady Justice Hedgwig Ong’udi is final and the comeback of former regime led by former President Nick Mwendwa has provide futile.
“We have got no option but to agree with the pronouncement delivered by the high court on Tuesday. This brings to an end what has been an ongoing campaign to fight the move by CS Amina to disband FKF and form a caretaker committee.It also means efforts to push for the comeback of Nick Mwendwa and his team to the office have hit a snag.The most important thing though is advocating for sanity and order in Kenyan football so that all our operations are in compliance with FIFA statutes” noted Aduda.
According to the ruling determined by Ong’udi,the CS has been granted the powers by the law to crack the whip on an errant sports body adding that the federation’s existence is subject to the Kenyan constitution, Sports Act and the laws of Kenya.
“The Cabinet Secretary acted within her mandate under the Sports Act to appoint a caretaker committee. The petitioners were accorded an opportunity to be heard and the Inspection Report was carried out in accordance with the law,” read part of the ruling.
The ruling was also lauded by among others former FKF President Sam Nyamweya who said the decision by the High Court also gives a legal backing to the move by the Minister last November to send the FKF NEC packing and leaves FIFA with little option but to start working with the Government.
“While I thank the courts for looking at the bigger picture and offering the country an opportunity to move forward, any wrong mistake by the CS may take us back to where we were before the mess. It is time for the CS to engage FIFA so that we can have a Normalisation in place that will set the roadmap towards drafting a new constitution under which we will go into fresh elections” noted Nyamweya
Aduda further said the government should hasten plans to fill the vacuum set to be left by retired Judge Aaron Ringera led committee and ensure continuity of running of football operations in the country.
“People should avoid getting stuck in the discussion surrounding legality of caretaker committee or otherwise. We need to have our suspension by FIFA lifted so that we continue being recognised by the world football governing body in running of our leagues,qualifiers for AFCON and FIFA. Our clubs won’t play in CAF Champions or Confederations leagues if we don’t put our house in order” Aduda further added.
Sports CS on Tuesday said the the decision on how the affairs of football in the country will be run will be known on Thursday after consultations with President Uhuru Kenyatta and football stakeholders.
She was speaking while receiving the report of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Caretaker Committee, which has been in existence for the past six months, since the Nick Mwendwa-led FKF was disbanded.
Related
