The High Court sitting in Naivasha Friday quashed a case challenging the candidature of Doris Petra and Nick Mwendwa in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections set for December 7.
Doris Petra, the outgoing FKF deputy president, is running for the FKF presidency alongside Nick Mwendwa, the outgoing FKF president.
Judge Grace Nzioka of the Naivasha High Court dismissed a petition filed by Luthers Mokua, the former chairman of the FKF Nyamira branch.
Mokua was unable to persuade the court that the joint candidature of Doris Petra and Nick Mwendwa was in violation of the Sports Act, the Sports Registrar's Regulations of 2016, the FKF Constitution, the Kenyan Constitution, and any other enabling laws.
In response to the historic decision, Petra was especially thrilled that all three of the applications had been rejected, opening the door for her candidacy—which will go down in history as the first female FKF president.
"We are pleased that justice has been served. This case was intended to distract us, but we stayed put and continued to engage the delegates because we knew what to focus on. We thank our lawyers for not only doing a good job, but also for helping to clarify the law on this issue," Petra said.
"We are more energized than ever as we approach the December 7 election. We are confident of winning, so we can put this process behind us and focus on creating a beautiful game," Petra said.
Mokua had petitioned the court to remove Petra and Mwendwa from the FKF presidential ballot on three grounds.
The recently deposed Nyamira chairman requested that the court overturn the FKF Electoral Board's decision to publish the two as candidates for the federation's presidential election, which was listed as the first respondents in the suit.
Additionally, Mokua requested that the court rule that Mwendwa, the third respondent, was ineligible to run for the position of FKF Vice President because he had previously served two consecutive terms as the president of the federation.
Another order that Mokua sought was a declaration that Article 43(3) of the FKF Constitution 2017 is inconsistent with the provisions of Section 46(5) of the Sports Act No.25 of 2013 and is therefore null and void.
The court, however, rejected the first request as unworthy, and the second was deemed to be "normally futuristic," meaning it could not be applied to an already-commenced process.
In addition to finding that the applicant had not used up all of the dispute resolution procedures allowed by the FKF constitution, the court denied the third request because it was not persuaded by the arguments made.
According to Article 37 (f) of the FKF constitution, all members of the NEC are eligible for a maximum of two terms in a position.
"The FKF constitution does not prohibit a member of the national executive committee, including the president and deputy, from seeking election in a different position because it will count as a new term of office in its own right."
Attorney Japheth Munyendo, who represented Petra and Mwendwa in the case, clarified that all applicable laws and regulations were found to be fault-free.
“The ex parte applicant Luthers Mokua failed to convince the honorable court that the joint candidature of Doris Petra and Nick Mwendwa was inconsistent with the provisions Sports Act, Sports Registrar’s Regulations of 2016, the FKF Constitution, the constitution of Kenya and any other enabling provisions of law," Muyendo said.
“The net effect is that when called upon to impeach the said candidature, the court downed its tools, seeing no fault on provisions of FKF constitution that Doris and Nick candidacy is hinged on."
The court mandated that Mokua cover the respondents' legal fees.
Seven other candidates, including former Nyanza NEC member Tom Alila, Chris Amimo, Sam Ocholla, Sammy "Kempes" Owino, Cleophas Shimanyula, Hussein Mohammed, and Barry Otieno, are vying with Doris Petra for the position of FKF president in the polls on December 7.
