FKF Committee suspends Mohammed Hussein, CEO Gicheru over fraud as Mariga takes over as acting president

The NEC appointed deputy president McDonald Mariga as the acting president pending the completion of investigations into the suspected fraud.

In a statement issued on Friday evening, the NEC said the decision was reached by a majority vote. Nine of the 12 NEC members led by Mariga signed the resolution. 

The committee also directed that all the federation’s bank accounts be frozen with immediate effect. It further invited the Confederation of African Football (CAF), world football governing body, Fifa and the Ministry of Sports to conduct a forensic audit of FKF’s activities, including funds they have remitted to the federation.

In addition, the NEC said it would review all the existing contracts signed by FKF.

“With immediate effect, Mr Hussein Rashid Mohammed do step aside from his role and position as President of Football Kenya Federation, Mr Abdullahi Yussuf Ibrahim do step aside from his role as nominated member of Football Kenya Federation National Executive Member and Mr Dennis Gicheru to step aside from his position and role as the Acting General Secretary of FKF to allow for investigations by relevant FKF, national and international bodies into alleged financial impropriety of public funds and resources and other statutory breaches,”  the FKF NEC resolution.

“The Deputy President of Football Kenya Federation, Mr Macdonald Mariga Wanyama do take over the roles and responsibilities of President of the Football Kenya Federation in an acting capacity with immediate effect pending completion of investigations and forensic audit into the affairs of Football Kenya Federation,” the members further resolved.

The NEC said it had taken the drastic measures to restore public confidence in FKF while preventing interference with the ongoing investigations. 

They also complained that the majority of the NEC members had been “systematically excluded and sidelined” from performing their duties within the federation which is contrary to the federation’s constitution.

On Thursday, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) told Nation Sport that it had prioritised investigations into the alleged scam.

Whistleblower Ustadh Okello Kimathi on Monday announced on social media that he had furnished EACC with full details. He added that he had also shared the documents with the FKF NEC and the National Assembly’s Committee on Sports and Culture.

Documents seen by Nation show that FKF wired $328,735 (Sh42.48 million) to Riskwell for the Chan’s insurance cover, despite the firm not being licensed by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) to operate as an insurance brokerage firm in 2025.

The 2024 Chan was co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania from August 2 to 30 last year. According to the hosting rights agreement for the tournament, CAF required each of the three host nations to procure a general liability insurance cover with a policy limit of $30 million (Sh3.87 billion).

The Sh42.48 million originated from the FKF/CAF tournament bank account at Ecobank and was wired to a Riskwell Insurance Brokers Limited account at First Community Bank Limited.

The payment is addressed to FKF and bears the email address [email protected] as the account holder’s contact.

Riskwell Insurance Brokers Ltd was incorporated by the registrar of companies on June 25, 2025. Its directors are listed as Mohamud Yarrow Ibrahim, Nyairo Tom Nyairo and Abdullahi Mohamud Sheikh. All of them are Kenyan citizens.

According to documents seen by Nation Sport, IRA on April 7, 2026 responded to an inquiry by one Joseph Mulwa from Mwingi regarding Riskwell Insurance Brokers Limited’s licensing status that the firm had not been registered to operate in the country. As the industry regulator, IRA is tasked with licensing insurance companies and insurance brokerage firms in the country.

 “Please note that we have checked our records on any information regarding Riskwell Insurance Brokers and we confirm that we have not licensed the broker for the year 2025 and prior years,” IRA Deputy Director, Licensing and Enforcement Wilson Wachira stated in a letter to Mr Mulwa dated April 7, 2026.

Riskwell Insurance Brokers Ltd is also missing from the list of 237 companies that IRA had licensed to operate in the country as at October 31, 2025.

According to the documents, Takaful Insurance of Africa, Old Mutual General Insurance Kenya Limited and Britam Insurance are the firms that submitted quotations for the cover.

All three insurance companies quoted lower premiums than the amount that was paid to Riskwell Insurance Brokers Limited.

Notably, Riskwell Insurance Brokers Limited did not participate in the bidding process. Takaful quoted $202,450 (Sh26, 166,662), Old Mutual $207,430 (Sh26, 810,327), and Britam $226,013 (Sh29,212,180).

The documents show that Riskwell did not broker any deal involving Takaful, Old Mutual and Britam. Further, Riskwell had no VAT obligation between June 25, 2025 and January 1, 2026, did not file tax returns during that period, and did not record any purchases or sales.

It is still not clear whether the tournament had a valid insurance cover as required by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Responding to the alleged fraud, Hussein had on Thursday claimed that there was a malicious campaign to tarnish his name. “Once I started the process of cleaning the house, it was inevitable that corruption would fight back,” Hussein posted on X. “Through such a malicious campaign, a lifetime of sacrifice, dedication and investment to help develop our social fabric through sports can go up in smoke, just like that. Reputation ruined forever. I shall not allow it. In this regard, I shall be issuing a comprehensive response to these heinous, fabricated allegations and all other planned propaganda. We know all their plans,” he said.

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