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Football Kenya Federation presidential aspirants have accused the sitting president of being in contempt of court and threatened to take legal action.
The federation has stated that the elections will continue as scheduled beginning Saturday despite a directive from the Sports Disputes Tribunal and the Sports Registrar to shelve the elections until certain conditions are met in accordance with the Sports Act.
Citing this, presidential aspirants on Friday vowed to take legal action against the current office if they disobey the SDT’s directive, and threatened to form a splinter group by the name Kenya Football Federation.
In a joint press statement signed by former FKF president Sam Nyamweya, former Kakamega Governor Moses Akaranga, Gor Mahia CEO Lordvick Aduda and London-based business man Simon Mburu, the aspirants complained about the secrecy with which the entire process has been carried out, and asked their clubs and supporters to stay away from the election.
“We have with dismay learnt of an attempt by Football Kenya Federation to subvert justice and illegally conduct elections on Saturday, 23 November, 2019,” the statement read.
“In the event that FKF blatantly and with impunity continues with their plans to hold elections against the directive of the Tribunal we shall have no other option but to institute contempt proceedings against Football Kenya Federation and the individual members of the illegally constituted FKF Electoral Board,”
Indeed a cloud of secrecy and controversy surrounds the FKF elections, as there are two cases pending before the High Court and the Sports Tribunal challenging the process, and the individuals overseeing it.
As opposed to the 2016 FKF elections that were conducted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, this term’s polls will be overseen by a body headed by Edwin Wamukoya, who has never conducted any other poll at this level before.
Little is known about the members of the board, or the returning officers, the criteria that was used to select them, their qualifications, or the kind of training they have received so far to enable them deliver a competent process.
In fact, the eligibility of Wamukoya and former journalist Elynah Shiveka in the electoral board has being contested in court.
“If this blatant disregard for the law and lack of inclusivity continues, we shall revive the Kenya Football Federation and register it so that we can restore sanity to football,” Nyamweya said.
