The newly appointed Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has made a commitment to swing into action and resolve the standoff between Kenya and the world football governing body, Fifa following his appointment on Thursday.
Ababu received approval to serve in the docket after being officially unveiled at a swearing-in ceremony presided over by President William Ruto at the State House in Nairobi on Thursday.
"I am ready to serve you. I am grateful to the National Assembly of Kenya for finding me unanimously worthy to serve our country as the Secretary of the Council of Ministers for Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts," Namwamba said.
"I have no intention of disappointing you and my fellow 50 million citizens, especially our youth, artists and sports fraternity," he added.
His appointment gives new hope to a nation that has been mired in despair due to endless conflicts between rival entities who have been flexing their muscles in an endless supremacy battle.
Namwamba said he will call the Fifa President on his first day in office to get Kenyan football back on track.“In my first morning in the office, I will call Fifa President Gianni Infantino to resolve the ban on Kenyan football,” said Namwamba.
As Namwamba took the oath of office, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Transition Committee head of secretariat Lindah Oguttu bade the football fraternity farewell, her words announcing the end of the body's contentious mandate.
“It has been a great honour to serve on the FKF caretaker/Transition Committee for close to a year. We are done,” Oguttu said in a statement.
“It wasn't easy but an experience I wouldn't change for anything. Great lessons. A big thank you to all those who tried to help. To incoming CS Ababu Namwamba, all the best,” she added.
The Transition Committee was constituted on November 11 last year by the then Sports CS Amina Mohamed following the expulsion of the Nick Mwendwa-led federation by the government.
At the same time, the Kenya Premier League caucus announced the opening of the transfer window for the 2022/23 FKF Premier League off-season which is expected to continue until November 28.
The caucus had previously decided to set the date of the new season for November 12 at a meeting attended by FKF chief executive officer Barry Otieno.
In a letter sent to the CEOs of the KPL clubs, the caucus chairman, Raymond Oruo also announced that the Fifa Integration System will be used during the exercise.
"References are made to the previous communication where you were informed that Fifa was in the process of transitioning from the previous season to the 2022/2023 season. This is to inform you that the Kenya Connect system can now be accessed for player registration and transfers," read the statement in part.
"We hereby wish to inform all clubs scheduled to participate in the FKF-PL 2022/2023 season that the first registration/transfer period will officially open today October 26, 2022 and will last for 4 (four) weeks until Monday November 28, 2022 at 1700, ” statement concluded.
During the tenure of the FKF Transitional Committee, the registration of players was done internally as they did not have access to the Fifa Linkage System. The system was reopened on Wednesday.
