“TANO TENA” for PRESIDENT NICK MWENDWA
As the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections drew near with ten days to go, it was disheartening by the way the Sports Disputes Tribunal put a spanner in the works of the incumbent president Nick Mwendwa getting re-elected for another term.
The country had spoken where a population of 45 million Kenyans had given Mwendwa a seal of approval by not opposing him for the presidency which was a clear indication of their confidence in his leadership for the past four years.
The tribunal contested the eligibility rules in a situation where no aspiring candidate disputed the electoral code and others who didn’t express their interests in vying complaining of being left out by the rules.
Mwendwa has brought stability in managing the federation through accountability and sound management which has won the confidence of football stakeholders and sponsors and improvement of the country’s soccer standards.
In terms of charge, Kenya’s national football team Harambee Stars made a return to the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) last year in Egypt after a 15-year hiatus, which is no mean achievement a feat that had eluded two regimes.
Since Mwendwa took over, his administration has laid emphasis on women’s football which had been overlooked by successive regimes.
Mwendwa’s administration started functional women’s leagues where an insatiable hunger of playing football was met by the ladies coming out in big droves to compete and kick the ball to play the beautiful game.
Last year, Kenya’s national women’s team Harambee Starlets won the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, three years after taking part for their first in the Africa Women Cup of Nations, under Mwendwa’s watch.
The controversy surrounding the non-payment of players allowances is a thing of the past as no such complaints have registered since took over and no wonder our national teams have excelled due to that motivation.
The Federation has started a youth programme by setting up a National Center of Excellence to nurture upcoming youth talent for the future of Kenya’s generation which will possibly make Kenya qualify for the 2026 World Cup and place Kenya at the international stage.
Mwendwa’s administration has been able to secure funding for grassroots leagues. If the roots of a plant which are crop’s foundation are strong the base will be firm.
The technical section of football is the heart of the sport and without it is like a human being operating without a heart or like a computer that does not have a CPU.
Mwendwa has endevoured to build the capacity of coaches and referees who are the main football technicians through trainings in which more have graduated in various levels in that there’s no shortage of tacticians and whistlers.
That has created employment to individuals officiating and coaching, improved football standards as others are ripe to whistle in international matches as has been the case in the 2018 World Cup, Afcon and other CAF assignments.
I urge the Sports Minister Ambasadeur Amina Mohammed, basing on the gains made by the Mwendwa’s administration by not interfering by FIFA’s decision over the FKF polls by obeying by the world governing football body.
Amina, you are a mother and a career diplomat, don’t allow Kenya the country you dilligently represented and jealously guarded at the international stage not to be banned for non-compliance of FIFA’s directive for the sake and good of our nation, sons and daughters future and economic stability.
Last but not least, I call upon Mzee Sam Nyamweya to quit honourably from the scene as he has outlived his usefulness.
Your place in the modern history of Kenyan football is already assured; don’t soil your legacy by presiding over another disaster by hanging on as the captain of an already sunken ship.
The writer is the Organizing Secretary, Gormahia Football Club
