Members of Parliament have scheduled a meet with Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to push for the postponement of the December 7 Football Kenya Federation (FKF) national elections.
The MPs want a caretaker committee appointed to run local football in the interim, citing widespread corruption and inefficiency at the federation. The MPs, drawn from the National Assembly’s Sports and Culture Committee, believe that the planned elections will not yield a fair outcome.
They made the calls yesterday following failure of FKF officials to appear before the committee, which is chaired by Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama, to give an update on the elections.
FKF has not issued an explaination as to why the officials failed to show up, even as candidates continue to campaign for various positions ahead of the planned elections.
9 FKF presidential candidates submit nomination papers for polls
On October 24,the committee expressed concern following critical revelations from Sports Registrar Rose Wasike, who pointed out that the FKF board, which is supposed to oversee the elections, “is under the capture of the outgoing federation officials.”
The MPs are particularly alarmed by a legal loophole that allows FKF officials, who have already served two four-year terms, to seek different elective positions within the federation.
Wanyama stressed that if the elections must proceed, they should be overseen by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to ensure neutrality, instead of FKF’s Electoral board.
“We need to engage the CS so that fairness is guaranteed by ensuring that IEBC is part of the process. Otherwise, there is reasonable unfairness on the other candidates in the elections. The FKF elections body looks like it’s under capture already,” Wanyama said.
Marsabit County Women Rep. Naomi Waqo and Turbo MP Janet Sitienei echoed his sentiments, calling for the elections to be postponed until the challenges within FKF are addressed.
“Must the FKF elections happen with all these challenges? As a committee, we are here to guide and help address the challenges because sports is a matter of national interest. How can we then allow the elections to continue when everything we see is a problem?” Waqo asked.
“It’s better the FKF elections are postponed to help us address the challenges,” Sitienei added.
Section 54 of the Sports Act gives the Sports Cabinet Secretary the authority to intervene when a sports organisation fails to comply with the law. The CS can appoint a committee or individual to take control of the organisation if it is found to be mismanaged.
“The Cabinet Secretary may appoint any person or committee to assume the management, control, and conduct of the affairs of a sports organization where the organization concerned has been unable to conduct its affairs in a proper manner,” the law states.
Source link : https://nation.africa/kenya/sports/football/why-mps-want-fkf-polls-postponed-4801910
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Publish date : 2024-10-25 03:15:00
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