NAIROBI, Kenya, October 29- Samuel Keengu Nyamweya was declared the chairman-elect of Kenyan football after winning the keenly contested national elections on Saturday.
At the same time, retired Harambee Stars midfielder, Sammy Sholei was also announced as the vice-chairman in waiting during the exercise conducted by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission.
Nyamweya garnered 1,461 of the 3,830 valid votes cast with Extreme Sport CEO, Hussein Mohammed who conceded defeat even before official confirmation was made coming second with 1,183.
Football Kenya Limited chairman, Mohammed Hatimy, who has been at the helm of Kenyan football for the last three years was third with 734 votes with Ambrose Rachier (333), Twaha Mubarak (199), Sammy Obingo (54), Fredrick Awich (39) and the only female contestant, Esther Shako (22) completing the tally.
“This has been a long journey after a long fight and I’m grateful to God and all those who voted for me for this victory. Kenyans have spoken and I will put an end to all the wrangling in Kenyan football,” Nyamweya, who pledge to work with his closest challenger, said in the aftermath of the announcement.
“Today’s result reflects the true democratic process of this country and it was done very transparently. The voice of Kenyans spoke, the voice of the clubs spoke and this is what they have been yearning for,” he added.
“Having seen the preliminary results before the final figures are announced, the figures speak for themselves and I wish to concede to my worthy opponent Sam Nyamweya. I want to reiterate that the entire process from the beginning has been managed in a shoddy way,” Hussein said.
“However, I will not contest the result in court but the Independent Electoral Board (IEB) code was not adhered to and the lists of clubs is contentious and in future, such committees to oversee such exercise should be made of credible people,” he charged.
While announcing the provisional results, IEB chairman, Joe Okwach, urged all losing candidates to support the winner unconditionally as the country seeks a new dawn in football.
“Nyamweya should however, know that he has not received the licence to lord it over football. It’s a major responsibility, not a privilege for him and voters should call his team to account,” Okwach said.
In the race for the vice-chair, Sholei, who was not present at the national tallying centre at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani polled 1,383 to beat Omar Mohammed who received 1,225 votes.
Sholei was the running mate of the beaten chairmanship contender while his closest rival was the number two man for Nyamweya.
IIEC will announce the results for other National Executive Committee seats as well as regional office holders on Sunday morning.
“We had a problem with the network we are using to transmit the results from various centres with some like Embakasi with large number of voters still counting their ballots,” the chief returning officer, Anthony Njoroge explained in the run-up to the announcements after delays caused anxiety especially among the top two contenders for the top post.
