Embattled Footbal Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Kithuku Mwendwa brags that he has pocketed money hungry Sports CS Ababu Namwamba who blows his phone for hands outs and money to travel upcountry or for vacation.
Mwendwa was kickedd out of office and arrested in November 2021 after former Sports minister Amina Mohamed disbanded the FKF and set up a caretaker committee to run kenyan football. He was the charged of looting Sh38 million and planning to defraud the FKF $254,000.
Mwendwa’s ouster and the disbandment of the FKF led to Kenya being uspended by FIFA- world’s football governing body in February 2022 over government interference in the management of football. The country was also banned from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers which kicked off in June and from hosting or playing in any international matches.
But Namwamba has hinted at a possible return of the suspended Mwendwa though he opted not to bring him back when he reinstated the disbanded FKF executive because he still has a pending court case. He is optimistic that the controversial official will be acquited of the offences.
The CS during his vetting by national assembly’s committee on appointments pledged to fix the rot at sports ministry but has completely failed to deal with key issues affecting the docket including the rogue agents who have run down the ministry and denied the sporting sector an opportunity to grow and flourish.
Namwamba admitted that several scandals scandals in the ministry have tainted Kenyan football beyond regional borders but he is also adding up to the long list of those who are killing Kenyan football instead of transforming sports, restoring order and working with all stakeholders in solving the problems as he pledged when he took over from Amina Mohamed.
He is now on the spotlight over his lust for money when Kenya Premier League is hanging on the balance with low marole among players and sports administrators. He is doing nothing to fix FKF’s national executive council which was disbanded through a ministerial action and the move affirmed by both the High Court and the Sports Dispute Tribunal.
Teams are spending money on an illegal league and the Namwamba is not even bothered that Kenyan football is in death bed. He is not attending to the core issues affecting the game, instead, he is busy globetrotting and priding in selfies with top FIFA officials.
Namwamba is hardly in the country. His lust for money has kept him too keen on handouts that he will never manage to hold the corrupt and cunning FKF officials to account.
Mwendwa and Barry could not account for over Sh513 million advanced to the federation by the government. There were neither cashbooks nor payment vouchers in regard to grants from the Sports Ministry for funds that FKF received between 2017 and 2021.
Some questionable Sh29 million were also withdrawn and Sh8.5 million transfered to Mwendwa’s private accounts. Investigations further revealed that FKF incurred unnecessay expenditures for breaching of contracts relating to unprocedural hiring and firing of coaches and other staff.
The committee recommended the formation of a caretaker committee to run football for six months since FKF was reluctant to follow the law on matters relating to management of public funds. But Mwendwa on sensing that he cannot run for an election due to his criminal charges has decided to front Barry who has organised leagues with teams from Nyanza including those with questionable credentials to ensure he wins.
Mr. Barry is now misleading CS Namwamba to reinstate the Nec through a letter to Fifa when it’s only the general assembly which has the power to elect a new Nec. FKF recently splashed Sh8 million on a physical endurance test course, a questionable move which raised eyebrows after the money was channeled to Namwamba’s conduits including his brother Tom Namwamba.
Fifa is about to release Sh800 million to FKF and CS Namwamba has positioned himself to reap big as Barry openly boasts that they have the CS deep in their pockets.
