FKF boss spends hours with detectives on claims of misappropriation of funds
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa was yesterday grilled at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters for more than six hours over claims of embezzlement of funds during his first term in office at the federation.
Mwendwa who is seeking a second term in the forthcoming football polls was summoned to respond to questions on claims of spending of Sh244 million for Harambee Stars’ participation at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Officials said he was accompanied by a few federation officials when he arrived there at about 9 am.
There was a complaint from the Ministry of Sports over the manner in which the funds were spent that prompted the questioning.
For instance, the complaint sought to know about an invoice that had raised questions on its legitimacy and how funds from world football governing body Fifa was spent on the purchase of Outside Broadcast (OB) equipment which was leased from a company that went into administration months after receiving about Sh125 million from the federation.
The detectives also sought clarification on the players’ bonuses, officials aware of the probe said.
Former Principal Secretary for Sports Peter Kaberia, now in the Ministry of Mining was in the past questioned by the same team at the DCI. He is said to be among the complainants in the issue.
Officials aware of the probe said it has been ongoing and they are in the final stages of the exercise after grilling other members of the federation of travelled with the national team Harambee Stars for a three-week camp in France before travelling to Cairo, Egypt for the continental showpiece.
The file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions with various recommendations for action. Mwendwa did not respond to our queries regarding his questioning.
Mwendwa’s tenure at FKF ended on 10 February 2020 but due to the fact that the football polls have been cancelled twice by the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) he still remains in the office, going by a recent directive from Fifa.
