Four FKF presidential aspirants form 'super alliance'
From Left: Football Kenya Federation (FKF) presidential aspirants Twaha Mbarak, Sammy Shollei, Nicholas Musonye, and Lordvick Aduda during the signing of a pre-election pact under a coalition dubbed "Super Alliance" at a Nairobi hotel on July 14, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Shollei, a former Kenya international and FKF vice-chairman, plus Aduda, the current Chief Executive of Gor Mahia and former FKF's CEO are set for prominent roles in the institution's management if these talks, which are said to be taking place with blessings from an influential politician, go according to the script.
- The alliance has reportedly attracted the attention of influential national leaders considering the popularity of football in the country as the game of masses, and regional influence of these four aspirants who represent areas perceived as 'strongholds' in terms of producing football talents and votes.
Four Football Kenya Federation (FKF) presidential aspirants Tuesday unveiled what they termed as a 'Super Alliance' whose main aim they say is to front one of them as a formidable candidate to face incumbent Nick Mwendwa in the body's polls.
On a day Mwendwa appeared to solidify his support at the grassroots by meeting FKF branch bosses in a 'Post Covid-19 planning meeting' in Nairobi, the four other aspirants namely Nicholas Musonye, Twaha Mbarak, Lordvick Aduda, and Sammy Shollei appealed to the government and Fifa to come up with guidelines that will govern the elections.
FKF County and national elections have twice been nullified by the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) in the past six months. SDT chairman John Ohaga ruled on both instances that the polls had not met the threshold of a free and fair exercise.
"We (the four of us) will sit down and agree on who will be president, deputy president, and other seats. What I know is the current office cannot organise proper elections so we demand a caretaker committee be formed to oversee fresh polls," explained Musonye during a press briefing at a Nairobi hotel Tuesday.
"Today is not the day for endorsing anyone for any seat. We first want to unite and push stakeholders into conducting free and fair elections," added Mbarak.
Aduda, meanwhile explained that other aspirants including Mwendwa, Herbert Mwachiro, and Sam Nyamweya had snubbed invitations to be part of the forum.
He called for the polls to be conducted as soon as is possible to allow the country plan for the next season.
"We should abolish the title of 'president' in football. It makes some people believe they are close to the President of Kenya. Football is a very big cake and I am certain the next leader will come from one of us," said Shollei.
Political alliances are common in Kenya and Nation Sport understands Musonye, a veteran administrator with two decades of experience in football management across East and Central Africa, is favourite to be the alliance flagbearer, closely followed by Mbarak, an influential businessman at the Coast and former FKF vice-chairman.
Shollei, a former Kenya international and FKF vice-chairman, plus Aduda, the current Chief Executive of Gor Mahia and former FKF's CEO are set for prominent roles in the institution's management if these talks, which are said to be taking place with blessings from an influential politician, go according to the script.
The alliance has reportedly attracted the attention of influential national leaders considering the popularity of football in the country as the game of masses, and regional influence of these four aspirants who represent areas perceived as 'strongholds' in terms of producing football talents and votes.
