CS Amina names same officials to run football on interim basis after expiry of Caretaker Committee mandate
Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed has named a Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Transition committee comprising the same officials she handpicked to manage the game for six months after she dissolved the federation last year. In a government gazette notice, the committee will serve for five weeks with effect from May 11, 2022, which means the fresh mandate is set to expire on June 15.
According to an earlier proclamation by Amina, the end of tenure will culminate in the drawing of a new FKF constitution that will then be forwarded to Fifa for ratifications pending fresh federation elections. The latest decision by the CS comes in the wake of the expiry of the six-month tenure of the FKF Caretaker Committee last Wednesday.
The committee was enacted by the CS to run football in an interim capacity in November last year after allegations of corruption at the federation. In a decision that could send tongues wagging, Amina retained the officials who ran the Caretaker Committee to fill the football vacuum in a move that world body Fifa believes that is interference of the game in the country, hence the suspension it imposed on the country.
The resolution by the CS may not auger well with a number of stakeholders who have criticized the Normalization committee on its operations only a day after its term expired. “Nothing changed in football for the better during the committee’s tenure. In fact, it only grew worse with teams almost folding up due to lack of funds despite being promised a certain subsidy from the government,” said former FKF president Sam Nyamweya said.
The Normalization Committee officials were hand-picked by the government on November 12, 2021 to run the sport after Amina sent home the Mwendwa over alleged embezzlement of funds running into millions of Shillings. Retired appellate judge Aaron Ringera remains the chairperson of the Transition committee assisted by Maurice Oyugi while other members include football legends John “Bobby” Ogolla and JJ Masiga, among others.
The raft of the mandates of the new committee include conducting the affairs of FKF in accordance with its constitution and ensuring that it operates within the provisions of the Sports Act, 2013. As fate would have it, the dissolved federation was not compliant with the Act and it is believed this was one of the reasons which necessitated its office bearers being hounded out of the office by Amina.
In hindsight, there is no likelihood that Amina, who has continuously played hardball with Fifa, will cede to its demands and especially having declared last week that any decision by the ministry is irrevocable, the country’s suspension by the world body notwithstanding.
Yesterday, sources within the ministry intimated that Amina intends to inform Fifa on the latest decision it has made, while also prevailing on it to support efforts by the government to restore sanity in football. However, Fifa is least expected to recognize the Transition committee unless and until it is scrapped and the FKF elected officials reinstated, among them its steward Mwenda , among other conditions it has set to lift the suspension imposed on Kenya. The decision to send Nick Mwendwa and his team packing has not augured well with FIFA, which prohibits government interference in in local football federations.
