Kempes goes to CAS challenging FKF Electoral Code

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) presidential aspirant Sammy 'Kempes' Owino has filed a petition challenging the Electoral Code set to be used to conduct the forthcoming federation's elections.

The case was filed on September 3, at the Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in Switzerland, Kempes has revealed.

In a Special General Meeting on August 24, the FKF General Assembly passed the Electoral Code, a revised version of the 2020 one, which addressed some of the complaints which had been raised by members.

However, according to Kempes, who in his prime played for Harambee Stars and Gor Mahia, the Code is not satisfactory and does not meet threshold needed to conduct free and fair elections.

"The federation has and continues to be faced with legal challenges. The only sensible path forward to help the state of football for now is through a Normalisation Committee by FIFA. These challenges are inevitable in view of current situation regardless of who wins the upcoming elections," said Kempes, in a media briefing on Saturday in a Nairobi hotel.

Kempes, a Software Engineer who now resides in the United States, further says that the General Assembly failed to address pertinent issues which will directly affect the elections.

"The path initiated by FKF through the just concluded SGM will not result in a free, fair and credible elections.  Instead it will lock out qualified individuals  and clubs from participating despite the electoral code changes that were made. It will also result to continued litigation," added the soft spoken Kempes.

Asked if he is conflicted by virtue of being a US citizen now that he is eyeing an important public office, Kempes responded without blinking eyes.

"According to the constitution, dual citizenship only prevents you from running for specified positions in the government, and FKF presidency is not one of them. The courts have made decisions on that, so for me it is a non issue," he explained.

The code also requires candidates for the FKF top job which Kempes is eyeing to have been directly involved in football for the past two years before elections; as a player, coach, referee, club official, NEC member among other relevant positions. 

Another aspirant Hussein Mohammed recently raised questions over the credibility of the Electoral Code, although he was at the SGM which passed it. 

In an interview with Citizen Digital, Hussein said there was need to provide a roadmap for elections, hence the silence by some of the members during the SGM, despite their discomfort.

"We really needed to have the ball rolling, so we had to start from somewhere as the tenure of the current office bearers is coming to an end soon. We hope sense will prevail when we present ourselves to the Electoral Board, and we will have an all inclusive election," he averred.

The move by Kempes could delay the elections further, amid preparations for critical events such as FIFA World Cup for Under-17 Girls which Kenya will compete in next month, 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers which kicked off on Friday and the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Importantly, Kenya is set to co-host the 2025 CHAN in February, alongside Tanzania and Uganda as a warmup to 2027 AFCON, events which require an efficient FKF office in place.