NAIROBI, Kenya, October 29- Hussein Mohammed, who was the runner-up in the race for the chairmanship of Kenyan football during Saturday’s polls lampooned the Interim Electoral Board (IEB) as he conceded defeat.
“The entire process from the beginning has been managed in a shoddy way. The list of clubs that voted is contentious; the IEB code was not adhered to.
“In future, when a committee is formed to oversee such an important exercise, it should be made up of credible people who will respect codes they have set themselves,” Hussein said.
However, he declared he would not contest the outcome although they are valid grounds to do so.
“It is about time football thrived in this country and we move away from persistent wrangling. It is for that reason; I have no intention of petitioning the result or taking the matter to court although the list of clubs is contentious and the names of delegates in the voters register are also contentious.”
The Extreme Sports CEO offered to work with the winner, Sam Nyamweya, adding his failed bid for the top seat would not deter him from continuing with his involvement in the game.
And in a sign of acknowledgement, Nyamweya who topped Hussein by 1,461 votes against 1,183 votes said, “I want to tell you now there will be a place for him in my administration since I cannot ignore his constituency that voted overwhelmingly for his campaign and ideas.”
Hussein arrived at the national tallying centre at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, some minutes past 7pm local time (+3GMT) with his campaign team determined to concede defeat when 64 results from 67 polling centres had come in indicating the apparent victory for Nyamweya.
However, Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) officers would not declare the result despite his and Nyamweya’s insistence and pressure on the poll body to do so.
After sitting side by side for almost an hour, Hussein and the winner rose to address the press as he formally brought his interest on the top seat to a close.
Minutes later, IIEC CEO, James Oswago, flanked by IEB chair, Joe Okwach rose to announce the results and by that time, Hussein had already left the gymnasium.
“In as much as some will praise us, some will vilify us. We invested a lot of time and effort to ensure that these elections were conducted and all the members of the board gave this exercise their all,” Okwach said in response to Hussein’s charges.