NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 1- Aspirants for the forthcoming Gor Mahia elections have written to the Sports Tribunal and the Football Kenya Federation complaining over the manner in which the club is handling the electoral process.
Of particular concern to the aspirants is the voter register which is being prepared by the current office and they are uneasy, suspecting the incumbents might be putting in a list favourable to hand them undue advantage in the December polls.
“This is not something new to us and we find it fishy that the office is saying they prepare the list then hand it over to the independent electoral body. We know what they are capable of doing. What we want is the independent body to handle the whole process,” former Secretary General Chris Omondi who is now eyeing the chairman’s seat told Capital Sport.
They have called for a halt to the ongoing voter registration owing to what they term as incredible and flawed process, asking Gor fans to boycott the process until the office adheres to election guidelines as stipulated in the club Constitution.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the 16 aspirants who also included another chairmanship hopeful Dan Oketch faulted the registration fee instituted by the current executive committee saying the change from Sh1,000 to Sh500 is unconstitutional.
“You can’t build a club with strangers. It’s not the right way to do things. But the office has overlooked branches and relevant stakeholders in the ongoing process. By setting registration fee at Sh500 the office has opened club elections to anyone who can afford the money without necessarily being fans of the club,” Omondi who resigned from the club two years ago said.
Other than petitioning the tribunal and federation, the aspirants have also sought audience with club patron Raila Odinga concerning the matter and hope a solution will be arrived at early enough.
Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier set 11th December as the date for club elections but the process has already hit a snag at the initial stage.
“A mutually agreed upon electoral body should take over the process from the registration onwards because the office holders might give them a skewed voter register.” Oketch said separately.