Kenyans should exercise a great deal of patience as Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed seeks a lasting solution to the woes bedeviling the local football scene, AFC Leopards' honcho Dan Shikanda has said.
Shikanda made the remarks as the country sank into a further panic after the continental football governing body, Caf, disqualified the country from the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Shikanda said the CS was quite in order in her sustained efforts to seek a permanent solution to the existing stalemate that has led to Kenya's suspension from international competitions.
“I'm confident the CS is doing her job to ensure we settle the issue once and for all. We need to get it all right,” Shikanda said.
“It takes quite some time to fix problems. Things were worse with the former federation. The future of the country can only be secured by using the right tools including a workable constitution.
“Let's be patient and allow the CS to do her job. I'm satisfied with what she has done so far,” Shikanda said.
Earlier in the morning, Caf unleashed the shocker, saying the decision was informed by Kenya's failure to adhere to demands set a fortnight ago.
Caf had included Harambee Stars in the official draw earlier in April 2022 on condition that Fifa's suspension must be lifted two weeks before their first matchday. Kenya and Zimbabwe were slapped with sanctions for political interference.
The two countries are yet to meet the conditions set by the Fifa delegates congress in Doha Qatar in March as a prerequisite for lifting their suspension.
Fifa wants the government to reinstate the expelled Nick Mwendwa-led Football Kenya Federation that was replaced by a caretaker committee constituted by Amina last November.
However, the CS seems unwilling to take that path considering the decision she made last week to extend the term of the Aaron Ringera-led committee that was rebranded as the Transition Committee.
It, therefore, means both have been locked out of the qualifiers that have been scheduled to kick off in early June.
“As a consequence of having failed to have their suspensions by Fifa set aside, CAF has confirmed that both Kenya and Zimbabwe will not participate in the 2023 Cote d’Ivoire Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers,” read Caf's statement.
“Because of the suspension, the following will apply: “The two associations; Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) will be considered losers and eliminated from the competition.”
“Groups C and K will be composed only of three teams and the order of the matches will be maintained in accordance with the match schedule that has been communicated to the teams after the draw.”
The first and runner-up teams of those groups will qualify for the tournament proper.
