Alila outlines his reservations with FKF Electoral Board

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) presidential aspirant Tom Alila has no confidence with the Electoral Board which is steering the federation’s elections, the former National Executive Committee (NEC) member for Nyanza has declared.

Alila, feels that the board, headed by Hesbon Owilla, will have to take radical steps “soonest possible” to convince various aspirants that the electoral process will be free and fair.

Speaking exclusively to Citizen Digital on Saturday, Alila expressed his fears that the tone set so far by the Board signals inability to deliver credible polls.

“First and foremost, the Board members are Nick Mwendwa (FKF president) cronies. Secondly, they are comfortable with a funny arrangement to work from Kandanda House, the very FKF premises – which is a direct conflict of interest. They have also given us a three-month period for the entire electoral process, which should be conducted in six months.

“The Board also wants us to be comfortable without an independent appeals committee, while we know there is no doubt there will be issues from aspirants. That FKF internal appeals committee inspires no confidence at all, and it is telling that they (Board) do not see anything wrong in starting their job without a proper disputes resolution mechanism in place,” explained a visibly agitated Alila.

He is also opposed to what he calls the Board’s plan to disregard the two-term limit as provided for in the Sports Act.

“I have reliably learnt that the Board wants to entertain some people who have already served their two terms in the very positions they have been holding. That alone takes away any glimpse of hope that they are independent and capable of delivering credible polls.

“We will vehemently oppose any attempt to have allow such a violation of the law, the Board must know this,” underlined Alila, who could not however immediately tell authoritatively that indeed there are current office holders who have served their two terms planning to vie for a third term – in the same capacity.

Asked how he knows that the Board is constituted of Mwendwa’s cronies, Alila simply questioned their appointment criteria.

“This idea of handpicking the Board without any voice of the rest of stakeholders gives room for the FKF NEC to position their preferred people. It is sad that during the Special General Meeting (SGM), even my fellow aspirants who knew very well the gaps in picking the Board members raised no questions about it. Now we are here, and they can see for themselves where we are being taken to,” he observed.

In the SGM, the board, which also has Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) president James Waindi, lawyer Merceline Sande, former AFC Leopards Chairman Dan Mule and Alfred Ng’ang’a was unanimously passed.

“The three-month timeline to conduct the entire electoral process is too short. All of us know from the time the Board starts its job, we should have six months to ensure that there is enough time for elections from the grassroots to the national level – without constraints to rectify issues that may emerge. It is holds no water to tell is that FIFA has given a deadline, so that the cartels find their way easily,” he explained, when questioned on his problem with what he terms as “unreasonably tight calendar of events.”

The much-awaited Football Kenya Federation (FKF) national elections will be conducted on December 7 this year, the Electoral Board announced on Thursday.

The board released a clear roadmap that will guide the polls and also the electoral code that will guide those who have expressed interests of vying for different positions.

The national elections will be preceded by the County polls that will be held on November 9.

The final list of eligible clubs and delegates will be published on October 10 and then County and the National Executive Committee (NEC) and presidential nomination forms will be submitted on October 11 and 14 respectively.

The final list of county and national candidates will then be known on November 2, paving the way for the county elections on November 9.

Publication of the 94 national delegates, who will be eligible to vote in the national elections, will be done November 23, two weeks before the vote for the presidential candidates on December 7.

Delegates sent to represent an FKF member during elections must belong to the member they represent either by appointment or election.

The Electoral Board also published the contents of the electoral code that will be followed by the candidates eyeing various positions.

Those eyeing the FKF top seat are required to have at least five endorsements from any of the FKF members, must have played an active role in football either as a player, member or an official of FKF in two of the last five years and must satisfy the requirements for leadership and integrity as per Chapter Six of the Kenyan Constitution.

Article 2(a) of the code says:

“Candidates for the office of President and Vice-President shall have been in active football (registered as a NEC member, committee member, referee, assistant referee, coach trainer, and any other person responsible for technical, medical, or administrative matters in FKF, League, or Club, or as a player for two of the last five years before being proposed as a candidate).”

Alila however believes that all is not lost, if the Board accepts to listen to the aspirants on the fundamental issues they are raising.

“I appeal to the Board to invite us (aspirants) before going too far, so that we can reason together. It will be of no use to just continue with a process that they are sure will be challenged in court, especially with all the issues raised so far. Even the Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC) engaged representatives of parties before the 2022 general elections,” Alila concluded.

Mwendwa has not categorically announced if he will indeed seek to defend his seat.