Sports CS Amina Mohammed questioned by parliament over selective audit
Sports CS Amina Mohammed has denied claims that the move to audit the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) was politically instigated.
She said the decision was aimed at addressing issues raised by stakeholders in the game who claimed that some monies allocated to the federation had been squandered.
Amina who was put to task by the National Assembly’s Sports, Culture and Tourism Committee yesterday to explain why she was determined with the auditing of the football association and yet she did not do the same for other notorious federations, ruled out any mischiefs as she informed the committee that the matter has since been seized by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and hoped that a thorough probe will be done to unearth the truth.
Committee chairman Patrick Makau (Mavoko) had asked the CS to explain the move behind the selective probe at the federation even as many other sports federations had accountability issues.
The DCI was last week allowed by the High Court to investigate FKF president Nick Mwendwa over alleged misappropriation of Sh244.59 million meant for preparations of the Harambee Stars during 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
Stakeholders wish
“I think what has driven us to do what we are doing now is actually the stakeholders that have major interests in the sport,” said Amina.
Makau said: “Could there be a political angle into this probe and is the same going to be done to all the other federations or are you siding with some?”
Amina said FKF is not the only federation under scrutiny, saying the ministry has also embarked on streamlining all federations that are not compliant with the Sports Act.
“We have started with the Kenya Cricket Association and now the FKF. Soon we will get to the others, we want to streamline the sports sector,” Amina told members.
She also disclosed that already three other federations were on her ladder saying they had also failed to adhere to the Sports Act.
“There are a few others that we are having discussions with because we feel they are not duly compliant with the Act,” Amina said.
She added: “I will not disclose which one because we are in discussions with them right now. Depending on how far we get, we can see how we can improve the working of some of these federations.”
Amina, however, defended the probe saying the audit will be an open process and will follow the law to the letter.
“We wanted to ensure that the process is legal, just and fair and that no other externalities would impact or influence the process,” she explained.
She assured: “The process is going to be legitimate. We will go through the entire process, do everything that is required so that we don’t jump into conclusions without due process.”
She told members that the findings of the audit will inform the decision that her ministry together with other stakeholders will take to streamline operations at FKF.
