Incoming Gor Mahia Secretary-General Sam Ochola has challenged the Election Board to come clean on ways to ensure the forthcoming elections are fair and credible.
A section of the fans and stakeholders have not been happy with the way the club, under the incumbent Ambrose Rachier, have been preparing for the process. While the official is expected to be elected unopposed to succeed Ronald Ngala, that has not stopped him from demanding a just election.
"I ... want to point out concerns that have been raised by the K’ogallo fraternity about these elections," read his signed statement obtained by Goal.
"As the new Secretary-General, I take great exception in seeing a vibrant, credible, and verifiable exercise that will define our new resolve to do things professionally and with the utmost integrity.
"Because these concerns are only propagating anxiety and creating a lot of tension among the fans."
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The administrator has gone ahead to inquire which body is mandated to conduct the elections since it has not been made clear.
Initially, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) was reportedly mandated to oversee the exercise, but by August 6, two days to the elections, nothing had been made public.
"Can the Election Board declare the kind of system in use for this exercise and the name of the company that is undertaking to do this election?" Ochola inquired.
"If voter education has been conducted to equip the voters with the know-how to cast their votes since the exercise will be done electronically. Are the candidates comfortable with all the laid down procedures and can they attest to that?
"The process of voting cannot be restricted to one hour. Kindly inform why the exercise cannot run for at least five to six hours given the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic."
The incoming official has assured the fans of good times ahead as far as the club's growth is concerned.
"To all our club supporters and partners, I wish to reassure you that we will journey together to achieve our desired success. Part of this success is having credible elections where those that win the contested positions, do so with humility, and the runners up, congratulate the winners magnanimously.
"This is the spirit of sportsmanship that will define all of us champions of progress in Gor Mahia.
"I urge all of us to understand the fact that this election is not an end to itself, it is a means to taking Gor Mahia FC to the next level in terms of management and operations."
Ocholla has further stated the way forward will be communicated to the K'Ogalo faithful which will govern the team for the next four years.
"After the elections, the Executive Committee of our club will issue a direction on the action plan and policies that will govern the running of the club’s affairs in the next four years of our dispensation, as we await Football Kenya Federation (FKF) through the Ministry of Sports declaration on the resumption of sporting activities in our country in view of the Covid-19 pandemic."
