Mwendwa promises to take Harambee Stars to World Cup as he seeks for second term

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa has promised, among other things, to take Kenya to the World Cup finals.

Mwendwa, who presented his nomination papers to the Electoral Board on Wednesday, is seeking for a second term during the national elections will be held on December 7.

Flanked by his running mate, Doris Petra, Mwendwa completed the Board’s verification checkpoints and was duly awarded an acknowledgement slip after scrutiny of his relevant documents.

“Today [Wednesday] we have presented our papers to the Electoral Board Secretariat where we were received cordially,” Mwendwa told reporters after presenting his papers.

“During the past four years we have revived football from the critical state it was in and we believe we shall continue in this next four years.

“We have been able to expand the [FKF] congress to 98 branches. We have a target to ensure the kids we have in the Center of Excellence shall represent us in the U17 Cup of Nations and World Cup.”

But other aspirants, namely Moses Akaranga, Alex Ole Magelo, Sam Nyamweya and Simon Mburu, all failed to turn up for the nominations, claiming the entire electoral process has been altered to favour the outgoing office.

The Electoral Board chairman Edwin Wamukoya told Goal the exercise will close at 5 pm (Kenyan time) and anyone who will not have presented his papers by then will be locked out.

“If anyone gunning for the presidency does not come to us to present his nominations by 5 pm, then he or she will not participate in the elections,” Wakumoya told Goal.

“We did not make these rules, but they were passed by the [FKF] delegates.”

Earlier on Wednesday, aspirants seeking elective positions in the National Executive Committee (NEC) from the Central and Nairobi Counties came before the board and were duly nominated to vie.

Their counterparts from the Western, Coast, Rift Valley, North Eastern, and Eastern region, as well as the women's representative position, had come before the board on Tuesday.

Following the conclusion of the nomination process, the Board is now expected to release a provisional list of candidates on Wednesday, October 23.

There will be a three-day window, between October 24 and October 26, in which disputes submitted to the board will be heard.

Aspirants who do not get recourse from the Board can further lodge their disputes to the Appeals Committee between October 28, and October 30.

The final list of candidates at both the County and National level will thereafter be published on November 2, ahead of the polls.