Dear FKF leadership, you don't deserve 12 years in office

This is an open letter to the outgoing Football Kenya Federation National Executive Committee, viz. the president Nick Mwendwa, his loyal deputy Doris Petra, and their acolytes Muriithi Nabea, (Eastern), Joseph Andere (Nyanza) and Enos Kweya (Western).

Dear Sirs and Madam, last week the Sports Registrar, in an official letter to the federation, stated that your term of office ends on July 29 and that you will not be eligible to vie in the upcoming elections. In other words, it will mark the end of your eight years of service to Kenyan football.

Mwendwa has remained mum over the matter. But I do remember him, earlier, publicly saying he will cross the bridge when he gets there.

Andere said that come what may, he would be seeking another term, while Petra dared opponents to meet her at the ballot. “The law allows us to vie,” she declared.

I will not go into the legal arguments for and against your candidatures. We leave that to the courts and lawyers who will be only too glad to make money that would otherwise be better used to invest in developing the game.

I will just implore you to look at the person staring at you in the mirror and ask: “What have I done for Kenyan football these past eight years?” “What can I do in another four years that I did not do in two terms?”

With over Sh2,000,000,000 in Fifa funding, what tangible achievements has your office registered?
Yes, I have done my homework. Your federation, starting from 2016 to date, has received at least $14 million (Sh2.27 billion) in direct Fifa funding according to the world football governing body's public records.

The Fifa Forward Programme Report for 2016-2022 indicates that each member association was to receive an investment of $6 million (Sh957 million) for the four-year cycle to support “operational needs and development projects.”

The report says a further $1 million (Sh162.35 million) is allocated to member associations with an annual revenue of $4 million (Sh638 million) or less “to support their travel and equipment needs.”

Further, the report mentions additional funds of $250,000 (Sh40.59 million) per year to member federations from poor nations like Kenya to cover travel costs and provide training equipment.

I have not included the millions obtained from CAF, the Kenyan government, and private organizations.

I am hard-pressed, as would any discerning football follower, to pick any project that your rich federation has successfully undertaken to advance Kenyan football. 

Sadly, it is under you that the once vibrant Kenyan Premier League lost its best sponsorship in history. Broadcast rights holders SuperSport fled, closely followed by naming rights holders SportPesa.

How do you feel losing a broadcaster who was pumping about Sh300 million a year into the league and a naming rights deal worth around Sh100 million a year?

I admit that you obtained two new sponsors, Nigeria-based betting firm BetKing as naming rights holders, and StarTimes as broadcast rights holder for hundreds of millions of shillings. However, the two partnerships were short-lived. Tellingly, both sponsors left citing contractual breaches.

As things stand now, the Premier League and a majority of its clubs are in mortal struggle as players go months on end without pay. No wonder our clubs long lost their competitive edge in Africa.

The going has been so tough under your hands, that two big clubs, Chemelil Sugar and Sony Sugar could not honour their fixtures leading to their ejection from the league in 2019.

You came to power when Harambee Stars were ranked position 89 in the world. They have steadily dropped south to currently stand at a lowly 110th. No wonder, under your watch, Harambee Stars have won just one Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, in 2017 on home soil.

I know you will say Kenya qualified, for the first time in 15 years, for the 2019 Afcon, never mind it was a 24-team affair, but many reckon it was only because Sierra Leone, who were in the same group, was disqualified following an international ban by Fifa.

Kenyan clubs, under your management, have consistently, like a Swiss watch, failed to go beyond the second round of either the CAF Champions League or Confederation Cup. The only exception was the 2021-22 Confed Cup where Gor made the play-offs for the group stage, falling 2-1 on aggregate to Congo Republic’s AS Otoho.

No Kenyan team has won the Cecafa Club Championship under your rule. What happened to your promise to build structures for youth development?

You must be aware, that Fifa says part of its funding is pegged on federations “organising youth competitions (two age groups for both girls and boys) – each competition should involve at least ten clubs and for at least six months each year.” None of these competitions exist in Kenya.

I will remind you that before 2016 the KPL had a vibrant, annual under-19 league competition that, sadly, died in your hands.

Finally, from 2016 to date, can you name an international-class talent in the mould of Mike Okoth, Dennis Oliech, and Victor Wanyama that has been developed under your regime? Not 10, not five, just one.

Given these underwhelming performances, is it desirable for you to continue staying in office?

Sometimes a squeaking door does not need oiling but replacement.