Outgoing Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa on Wednesday vowed to steer Harambee Stars to compete at the FIFA World Cup for the first time in the country’s history if he is re-elected for a second four-year term in office.
He spoke to journalists at the federation’s Kandanda House secretariat at Kasarani, moments after returning his nomination papers to FKF’s Electoral Board.
“The Electoral Board officials say they will confirm my candidature in three days’ time and I am confident of getting clearance (to contest),” said Mwendwa.
“In our first term, we ensured our men and women national teams played at their respective Africa Cup of Nations. The women team is also on course to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in history. Our plan is to try and play at the 2022 or 2026 Fifa World Cup.”
The Fifa World Cup is the world’s biggest sporting showpiece.
But other aspirants namely Sam Nyamweya, Moses Akaranga, Alex Ole Magelo, and Simon Mburu all failed to turn up for the nominations, claiming the entire electoral process had been altered to favour Mwendwa.
“We will petition ( the sport’s world governing body) Fifa on this matter because this is a selection and not election. The Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) should stop favouring Mwendwa,” said Ole Magelo.
Stakeholders have filed cases at the SDT and High Court challenging the composition of the Electoral Board and the validity of the exercise.
“If anyone gunning for the presidency doesn’t present his nominations by 5pm, then he or she will not participate in the elections. We did not make these rules, the (FKF) delegates did,” explained Electoral Board chairman Edwin Wamukoya.
Accompanied by his running mate Doris Petra and hundreds of youthful supporters donning ‘team Blue’ branded t-shirts, Mwendwa, whose first-year term in office has been marred by challenges and especially a lack of goodwill from the corporates, explained he’s convinced the coming years will be better.
The FKF national elections will be held on December 7.
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