Mwendwa bullish after Sh1.2bn deal, vows to floor ‘Super Alliance’
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa says he is not bothered by the formation of a ‘Super Alliance’ which intends to gang up and nominate one ‘opposition’ candidate to face the incumbent in the forthcoming elections.
He spoke on Thursday at an event where he announced a record Sh1.2 billion sponsorship deal for the Kenyan Premier League.
“I hear my opponents fear to face me one by one (at the ballot), so they would rather come as a group,” he bragged.
“I will still beat them even if they form an alliance. That I am sure about. I am sure of retaining the seat and will be here for the next four years.”
Earlier this week, four FKF presidential aspirants confirmed that they were in talks to field a formidable candidate against the incumbent.
Govern the elections
The four namely Nicholas Musonye, Twaha Mbarak, Lordvick Aduda, and Sammy Shollei also appealed to the government and Fifa to come up with guidelines that will govern the elections.
FKF County and national elections have twice been nullified by the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) in the past six months.
SDT chairman John Ohaga ruled on both instances that the polls had not met the threshold of a free and fair exercise.
“We (the four of us) will sit down and agree on who will be president, deputy president, and other seats. What I know is the current office cannot organize proper elections so we demand a caretaker committee be formed to oversee fresh polls,” explained Musonye during a press briefing at a Nairobi hotel.
“Today is not the day for endorsing anyone for any seat. We first want to unite and push stakeholders into conducting free and fair elections,” added Mbarak.
Aduda, meanwhile, explained that other aspirants including Mwendwa, Herbert Mwachiro, Sam Mburu and Sam Nyamweya had snubbed invitations to be part of the forum.
He called for the polls to be conducted as soon as possible to allow the country plan for the next football season.
“We should abolish the title of ‘president’ in football. It makes some people believe they are close to the President of Kenya. Football is a very big cake and I am certain the next leader will come from one of us,” said Shollei.