FKF lay down strict rules for December national polls, to hold last AGM on October 5

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has issued tough rules for anyone seeking to vie for the presidential post during their elections slated for December.

According to the guidelines released by the federation’s Electoral Board Friday, any member seeking to unseat incumbent president Nick Mwendwa must have been active in football for three of the last four years before being proposed as a candidate.

“Each candidate shall have been registered as a national executive member, committee member, referee, assistant referee, coach, trainer, or as any other person responsible for technical, medical or administrative matters in FKF, league or club or as a player for three of the last four years,” the Electoral Code document satys.

Interested candidates will also be required to obtain support from a club in the national leagues for their candidature to be approved by the electoral body and a member is only required to declare support for not more than one candidate.

“Each candidate shall present declarations of support from at least one of the current FKF branches in five of the 20 branches of FKF [a minimum of five declarations] and from at least one club from the Kenyan Premier League, National Super League, National Division One League, Women’s Premier League, Women’s Division One League [a minimum of four declarations” the document adds.

 “Each member may only present a declaration of support for one candidate for each of the president and vice president positions, such a declaration shall have been signed by the chairperson and the secretary for branch, and by the chairman for a club. If a member presents more than one declaration of support for any of these two positions, none of its declarations shall be deemed valid,” it reads.

For purposes of transparency and accountability, candidates will be needed to have been cleared by various government agencies too.

“Each candidate will also be required to provide a valid Kenyan Identity Card or passport, a Certificate of Good Conduct that is no more than six months old,” the document says.

“Clearance Letter from the Credit Reference Bureau, a Clearance Certificate from Higher Educations Loans board, acknowledgement document from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, and a valid Tax Compliance Certificate from Kenya Revenue Authority,” it says.

Each presidential candidate should also declare the choice of their running mate with whom they shall be voted as one candidature.

“Each candidate vying for the position of FKF president shall present a running mate for the position of FKF vice-president. In the absence of a running mate, the candidature for president will not be admitted,” says the new rule.

Meanwhile, every candidate will be required to pay a non-refundable nomination fee of Sh400,000 for purposes of nomination.

So far no one has officially declared interest in opposing Mwendwa (pictured left) , who will be seeking his second term in office. However, word has it that former Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga (pictured above) is planning to launch his campaigns for the top seat. At the same time, the federation has picked October 5 as the date for their final Annual General Meeting (AGM), where a road map for the polls will be laid down. 

The meeting will be at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi.

             -WEBSTER NYANDIKA