Nyamweya: Fifa must work with Kenyan government to sort ‘our football mess’

Former Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Sam Nyamweya has called on the Kenyan government to start engaging the world governing body Fifa so they can come up with a roadmap to readmit the country into international football.

Kenya is currently serving an indefinite suspension from the governing body for alleged government interference. The ban which was imposed on the country three months ago came about after the Ministry of Sports through Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed dissolved the elected office led by Nick Mwendwa and appointed a caretaker committee.

The committee which was chaired by retired Justice Aaron Ringera ended its mandate of six months on Monday. And on Tuesday, a case in court that was challenging the Minister for dissolving the federation was dismissed in favour of the government.

What did Nyamweya say?

“Following the Court ruling on Tuesday dismissing a petition filed by the Football Kenya Federation officials against the decision by Sports Cabinet Secretary to disband the National Executive Committee of the Federation, the coast is now clear for the government to start engaging the world soccer governing body to come up with a roadmap towards readmitting Kenya back to international football,” Nyamweya, who served the federation as the president, told GOAL on Wednesday.

“The decision by the High Court also gives legal backing to the move by the Minister last November to send the FKF NEC packing and leaves Fifa with little option but to start working with the Government. It is, therefore, my humble submission to the CS that the ball is now in your court to sort out the situation with the speed it deserves.

FKF.

“While I thank the courts for looking at the bigger picture and offering the country an opportunity to move forward, any wrong mistake by the CS may take us back to where we were before the mess. It is time for the CS to engage Fifa so we can have a Normalisation Committee in place that will set the roadmap towards drafting a new constitution under which we will go into fresh elections.”

Nyamweya has further outlined some of the areas the Normalization committee should work on for a better transition.

What the Normalization committee ought to do?

“But that Normalisation committee must ensure key stakeholders in the game are given an opportunity to give their views about how they want the game to be run in future.”

Nyamweya continued. “The Normalisation committee will have to work within the confines of the Kenya constitution, the Sports Act, and the Fifa statutes.

“We must realise time is of the essence. Our game has already suffered immense damage since the disbanded Federation officials took over and the six months the country has been in the international cold has not made anything better.

Goal.

"Therefore, the CS must move with speed to engage Fifa and Caf so we are not locked out of the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. The CS should also call a stakeholders conference to help her in formulating a way forward.”

Nyamweya concluded: “While we appreciate the energy and zeal the CS has had in bringing sanity to our football I can say we are not yet in Canaan. The real work starts now the time of the Caretaker Committee she appointed in November has expired and the court has ruled in her favour.

“Let us not waste this golden opportunity to make our football great again.”

As it stands, Kenya are at risk to miss the 2023 Afcon qualifiers where they have been pooled alongside Cameroon, Namibia, and Burundi.