Sports Disputes Tribunal chairman John Ohaga. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 3 – The Sports Disputes Tribunal has cancelled the Football Kenya Federation presidential and National Executive Committee Elections scheduled for Saturday and cancelled results of the branch elections conducted last month.
The orders were issued on Tuesday by Tribunal chair John Ohaga who ruled that the Electoral Board was not properly constituted while there was no public participation in the formulation of the electoral code as stipulated in the Constitution.
Former FKF boss Sam Nyamweya who was also vying for the top seat alongside ex Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga, former AFC Leopards chairman Alex Ole Magelo, Gor Mahia CEO Lordvick Aduda Former FKF NEC Member Angeline Mwikali and Simon Mburu had sought for the orders at the Tribunal.
The Nyamweya led group had contested the electoral code that among other things required presidential aspirants to pay a non-refundable fee of Sh400,000 while they also lamented that there was no public participation in formulation of the regulations.
“The respondent failed to adhere to the national value of public participation as set out in Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 in formulating and adopting the Electoral Code. The respondent failed to adhere to the requirements of the FIFA Statutes in constituting the Electoral Code,” the ruling delivered by Ohaga stated.
It added; “We find that the process of elections has been marred and the resultant results of this process are null and void.”
The Tribunal has also ruled that the Electoral Board was not properly constituted. The presence of seasoned broadcaster Elyna Shiveka in the board was contested as she also seats in the Tribunal and this was seen as a conflict of interest.
“As Chief Justice David Maraga stated, elections are a process, not an event. The sanctity of the process of elections is what validates the results of the election,” Ohaga further noted.
The Federation has now been asked to reconstitute the Electoral Board as well as engage its stakeholders in public participation in the formulation of the Electoral Code.
As thus, the status quo at the Federation has been maintained with all office holders retaining their positions until fresh elections are conducted.
“We will abide by the ruling of the Tribunal and communicate to FIFA on the same. There is also a possibility that we could contest the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sports,” FKF boss Nick Mwendwa said in a separate reaction.
