Hassan Wario: Comply with Sports Act or else...

The Ministry of Sports on Wednesday warned it will not transact business with federations and clubs that have not complied with the Sports Act.

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Labour and Social Services, Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario said all sports associations must comply with the law if they are to work with the ministry.

Wario warned federations that ignore the law would be treated as non-existent and their activities deemed illegal. He said the associations must re-register and re-align their constitutions to the Sports Act.

During the meeting at Protection House in Nairobi, it emerged that among other associations, the Football Kenya Federation and the 16 top Kenyan Premier League clubs have not registered with Sports Registrar.

According to the ministry, the FKF have not complied with the 2013 Sports Act by applying for registration as required by existing law despite being granted an extension window mid this year.

CLUBS YET TO COMPLY

According to Wario, the clubs were also expected to do the same but they are yet to comply and are being run outside the law. The committee is looking into a petition to the Senate by FKF vice-chairman Sammy Sholei about alleged violation of the law by the federation in preparing for elections without an electoral code. Sholei is also contesting the establishment of an electoral board just months to the national football elections instead of four years to the polls.

Sports Registrar Mary Wasike, who accompanied the CS, said they had given the federation registration forms but they had not received a response.

“FKF is not a registered organisation. We do not have them in our records. I cannot supervise their activities because we do not know them. The CS cannot intervene in anything they do because this is a non-existent organisation to us,” said Wasike.

The CS said all the sports federations had been given a year following the enactment of the Act to comply with the Act and to realign their constitutions and regulations. They were also meant to register again with the registrar.

“All football clubs have also not been registered and the matches they are playing are illegal. They are all not registered as required in the law,” said Wario.
Committee chairman Stewart Madzayo asked FKF president Sam Nyamweya, who was present, to ensure the federation was registered within the next seven days to avoid putting footballing activities in uncertainty. Nyamweya promised to ensure the federation was registered.