Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa yesterday defended the move by his office to snub a consultative virtual forum convened by the Sports Disputes Tribunal in regard to the upcoming polls.
The federation was among the stakeholders who were invited to unlock the elections stalemate but chickened out in the final minutes, claiming that they will only tow Fifa’s line.
FKF in a letter to the tribunal said: “Ideally, a mediation process is party-driven and voluntary. Usually, negotiations in mediation are undertaken before an impartial and neutral third party without decision-making powers. In any event, the stakeholders of football in Kenya comprise of many other parties and entities outside these proceedings.”
Mwendwa insisted that his office will await Zurich's direction as was communicated in a letter dated March 25, 2020. “FKF is an institution bound by its constitution as well as the Fifa statutes.
“We received the SDT’s ruling on March 17, 2020, and its further directions and we have abided by them in good faith. Fifa have likewise been clear in their reply to us on the issue. We will, therefore, await its (Fifa) direction on the matter,” added the FKF President.
The tribunal nullified the elections last year in December, citing inadequate public participation on the Electoral Code as well as an improperly constituted Electoral Board.
This forced FKF to conduct public participation on the code in all the 20 branches. The National Executive Committee also reconstituted the Board, one that was passed at the federation’s Special General Meeting held on January 28.
The Kentice Tikolo-led board was mandated to conduct repeat elections, which were scheduled for March 14, 2020 (County Elections) and March 27, 2020 (National Elections). However, the tribunal cancelled the exercise citing uneven playing ground for the contestants.
The tribunal, headed by John Ohaga, also disbanded the federation’s National Executive Committee following the expiry of their mandate but the members were handed a lifeline by Fifa who sided with the federation. Fifa also declined to the tribunal’s request to form a normalisation committee.
FKF now say they are awaiting Fifa’s position on the elections which are expected to be conducted after the Covid 19 dust settles.
