OPINION: Why FKF must convene AGM amid league kick off standoff

The dark clouds of administrative paralysis have once again gathered over Kenyan football. For the second time in three weeks, the kickoff of the 2026/27 SportPesa Premier League season was halted at the eleventh hour.

As the Federation’s President, Hussein Mohammed, addressed during his press conference in Nairobi on Monday, conflicting court orders originating from Murang’a, Milimani, and Kiambu have frozen the domestic calendar over the contentious promotion-relegation standoff involving Kariobangi Sharks and Mombasa United.

Amid the finger-pointing between Kandanda House and disgruntled clubs, one stark reality remains overlooked: The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has not held an Annual General Meeting (AGM) since May 2025.

While Mohammed defends his record by citing informal "Kamukunjis," political consultations, and roundtables with stakeholders, the institutional vacuum created by the absence of a supreme governing body is precisely what has left Kenyan football exposed to endless civil litigation.

To break the deadlock and prevent a total breakdown of the game ahead of AFCON 2027, FKF must urgently convene a formal, constitutionally compliant AGM.

Addressing the press following the latest postponement, Mohammed rejected accusations of institutional inertia, pointing to his persistent attempts to bring warring factions to the negotiating table.

Responding to a question by Mike Okinyi over what was so difficult convening meetings with his National Executive Committee, Mohammed was blunt, claiming he had tried to do so “four times” but the members were “not willing to sit at the table."

“I have convened several times; I have sat down with the government, with FIFA, with CAF, and with the members in previous meetings to articulate and discuss those matters.”

Mohammed insists he remains open to mediation from other parties as long as they follow the correct legal procedures within the statutes of FKF.

I'm still open to more routes, more conversations, and more discussions. The doors are not closed... But at the same time, you cannot be held hostage indefinitely on certain key issues.”

While the president's willingness to consult is noted, his reliance on informal gatherings and executive summits misdiagnoses the disease.

Informal roundtables and "Kamukunjis," as he described a meeting initially convened to oust him last April, do not carry binding statutory weight.

Under the FKF Constitution, policies governing league structures, rules, and executive appointments cannot be validated through informal consensus; they require the explicit, ratified approval of the congress—the supreme legislative organ of Kenyan football.

Because the FKF has gone nearly 16 months without an AGM, every major administrative policy, from the controversial 2025 relegation rules scrapping playoffs to the expired mandate of Acting CEO Dennis Gicheru, remains legally vulnerable to challenge in civil courts.

While FKF's executive sought to enforce the 2025 rules, claiming clubs acquiesced to them all season, aggrieved parties challenged the move in court, arguing the 2025 changes were never lawfully communicated or ratified before the season began. High Court orders subsequently halted the 2026/27 season until the promotion/relegation dispute was determined.

In a hard-hitting press statement released on September 22, 2026, members of the FKF National Executive Committee (NEC) explicitly broke ranks with President Hussein Mohammed.

The NEC members insisted that the 2026/27 season must commence under the 2019 FKF Rules and Regulations, strictly honoring court directives that demand the implementation of the prescribed promotion-relegation playoffs.

Because the 2025 regulations were never formally presented to and adopted by the congress, their legal enforceability remains fragile. An immediate AGM is the only bulletproof platform to formally table, deliberate, and vote on the binding league rules for the 2026/27 season.

Establish an unassailable, legally sound consensus on promotion and relegation criteria and strip civil courts of the jurisdiction to issue injunctions based on procedural nullities.

Understanding the Kariobangi Sharks 2019 vs. 2025 Rules Loophole

At the center of the current league postponement is a legal quagmire: Did the FKF lawfully replace the 2019 Rules (which mandate a playoff between the 16th-placed Premier League team and the 3rd-placed NSL team) with the 2025 Regulations (which enforce direct relegation for three teams)?

Because the 2025 rule changes were passed by the National Executive Committee (NEC) but never formally presented to and adopted by a supreme AGM, aggrieved clubs like Kariobangi Sharks, who happen to be owned by immediate former FKF boss Nick Mwendwa, successfully argued in the High Court that the rules were procedural nullities.

President Mohammed rightly noted that football disputes should be resolved within football's structures rather than civil courts. However, clubs are flooding civil courts precisely because FKF’s internal judicial structures are currently non-existent.

As highlighted by the recent circular from NEC members, the federation currently operates without a functioning Disciplinary Committee, Ethics Committee, or Appeals Committee.

Under Article 30 of the FKF Constitution, members of these independent judicial bodies can only be elected or ratified by the General Assembly during an AGM.

Until an AGM is convened to officially install these bodies, clubs have zero internal recourse for grievances, making civil court injunctions their only operational option.

The lack of an AGM has extended beyond league rules into executive operations. The recent petition by NEC members challenging the legal standing of Acting CEO Dennis Gicheru—whose six-month acting tenure officially expired without NEC or AGM extension—underlines the crisis of governance. This is especially as former CEO Harold Ndege took the federation to court over what he believes was enforced removal from his office.

Furthermore, following FIFA’s May 25 directive emphasizing strict compliance with Article 41 regarding executive appointments and suspensions, the federation cannot afford to run on ad hoc extensions.

An AGM allows the assembly to exercise its constitutional duty to review executive appointments, adopt audited financial statements, and restore institutional order.

President Mohammed’s assertion that "we cannot operate as if we're in a jungle” back in April and that “we must be law-abiding citizens within the confines of our rules, statutes, and the laws of the country" is correct.

But the rule of law in football begins with constitutional compliance at home. Relying on FIFA's backing to stave off executive ousters while ignoring the mandatory statutory requirement for an annual general meeting is unsustainable.

The High Court injunctions paralyzing the league are merely symptoms; the root cause is a year-long governance void, especially with AFCON 2027 which Kenya will co-host alongside Tanzania and Uganda around the corner.

If FKF sincerely wishes to unlock the 2026/27 season, protect sponsors, and save Kenyan football from death by a thousand court injunctions, President Hussein Mohammed must move past informal roundtables and issue an immediate formal notice for an Annual General Meeting. Only the General Assembly can restore order to Kandanda House.

The views expressed in this report are based on court filings, official FKF circulars, and historical governance statutes and do not necessarily reflect the position of Royal Media Services.