OPINION: FKF boss Nick Mwendwa must accept he is in office only by name

Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa has been a seemingly very, very busy person during this time of Covid-19-enforced inactivity that has seen little kicking of the ball on our pitches.



On 30 April, he announced on his Twitter account that Gor Mahia were champions of Kenya and would represent the country in the CAF Champions League.



Meanwhile, the Kenyan Premier League Limited, an entity legally mandated to run the competition, riposted no such decision had been made and the league remained suspended.



The FKF secretariat later released a press statement declaring the season cancelled (meaning annulled, voided, negated, invalidated), while going ahead to name a winner. How does someone win a competition that has been cancelled?



On 16 July, the federation, through its official Twitter account, announced a little-known betting firm – BetKing – as the official FKF Premier League title sponsor in a KSh1.2 billion five-year deal, never mind the KPL – currently running the competition – were not involved in any negotiations that may have taken place.



Mwendwa later held a press conference on 30 July at Kasarani, without a single representative of the billion-shillings benefactor, to announce to all and sundry that the official unveiling of the BetKing sponsorship would be done in August.



For the record, no such event was held in that month or this one for that matter.



The Kenyan football world continues to wait.



Last week, the president was talking about the federation’s plans to resume football activities in the country. He stated matter-of-factly that the league would resume mid-October.



He talked about team training restarting mid this month. He talked about Covid-19 protocols that the federation was putting/was going to put in place so that football returned, sponsors returned and fans returned.



He has talked about the setting up of a new company to manage the Kenyan top league, unilaterally instigating the formation of some ad hoc working committee – even selecting the head, made up of five KPL club members – Erick Oloo (Ulinzi Stars chairman) as chairman, Dan Shikanda (AFC Leopards chairman), Dan Aduda (Tusker chairman), Robert Maoga (Kariobangi Sharks chairman) and Ken Ochieng (Zoo chairman) to come up with a working plan.



This notwithstanding the fact that the KPL Limited is in existence and lawfully mandated to organise the competition. Its mandate, according to the agreement with FKF, stands until 24 September when it can be reviewed or terminated.



Already there are questions being raised over the legal status of the five-man committee.



The (outgoing) FKF president has talked about securing broadcast rights with some pay-television station and how the Kenyan Premier League will be back live on a major television channel.



Fair and well. This seems to be a very hardworking football administrator.



But the trouble is football in the country is in the middle of an election cycle that just cannot, seemingly, end, and there is, technically, no federation as a legal structure in existence.



At the moment, things are anything and everything but normal.



Opinion first published by Nation