Former FKF boss Sam Nyamweya says government was right to suspend federation
Former Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Sam Nyamweya says the government is in order to try to restore order in local football.
Nyamweya says the decision by the Sports Cabinet Secretary Amb. Dr. Amina Mohamed to disband the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) in November 2021, replacing it with a Caretaker Committee was ‘in the best interest’ of the country.
Nyamweya who has a long history with local football administration did not defend his seat during the 2016 elections and this handed easy victory to ousted president Nick Mwendwa.
“I decided not to contest in defending my seat in the 2016 elections and instead of my successor picking it from where I had left to help in the growth of our football he decided to start fighting the government and quarreling with sponsors who finally ran away thus denting the game further. There was no consultation with other football stakeholders like pay broadcaster Supersport who had to leave because of expansion of the league without their involvement. CS Amina is very determined to leave a legacy and we support her initiative aimed at bringing reforms in the sport” he said.
“The problems in Kenyan football have been there since independence, they didn’t begin yesterday even though the situation of most recent years is more worse than ever before. Wrangling in various FAs is a global concern but our situation has been horribly bad. I can confidently say that myself and Peter Kenneth tried to offer solution to challenges that rocked the game as two of us started the Kenya Premier League because it wasn’t there before. We put systems in place until we left in 2000,” the veteran football administrator quipped.
Before the FKF disbandment, Amb. Amina had received an 86-page report on the investigations into the massive fraud reported at the body, the major of which is the alleged embezzlement of the Ksh 245 million meant for Harambee Stars’ preparations for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt. The investigations over the same have been going and on Thursday July 6, the High Court dropped corruption charges against the former FKF boss.
Milimani Anti-corruption Chief Magistrate Eunice Nyuttu said the DPP failed to present evidence in the matter that involves a Ksh 38 million fraud.
"I hereby discharge Nick Mwendwa under section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) for failure by the DPP to avail evidence before this court," Nyuttu ruled.
The transition committee whose mandate was extended for the next two months in June and is currently working on the FKF Constitution which upon completion will provide a roadmap towards fresh federation elections.
