A multiagency inspection team drawn from the Sports Registrar’s office and the Ministry of Sports on Friday visited the Football Kenya Federation offices as they began their inspection mandate as directed by the Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed.
The team is set to conduct the inspection exercise, mostly centred on the Federation’s finances and are expected to report back to Amina by Tuesday next week.
The inspection was ordered by Amina over the increased calls for an audit of the Federation following claims of mismanagement of funds. Among key interest include the Sh219mn allocated to the Federation for Kenya’s participation at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Also pointed out is an alleged suspicious movement of funds from the Federation’s accounts to president Nick Mwendwa’s personal account without proper documentation.
FKF provide files of their financial accounts
Meanwhile, FKF CEO Barry Otieno has said that the Federation will fully corporate with the inspectors and are clear that their books are in order.
“We had a meeting and we agreed on the parameters on how to conduct the inspection. But the most shocking thing is that we don’t know what the inspection entails. They say they are looking for documents dating back to 2014 but we were not in office then. But we have informed them that we will furnish them with all the documents they need from 2016,” Otieno said.
He added; “We just hope that the process if fair and transparent. We have also asked for more documents to demonstrate that the process is transparent. We have asked to be informed how much money has come from the Ministry to FKF,”
“The CS has been quoted as saying they have disbursed Sh430mn to us but in our records it doesn’t show that. Our bank records indicate that we have only received Sh354mn and we have asked to be made aware how much has actually been approved by the Sports Fund to come into FKF,” added the CEO.
The Federation has been increasingly under pressure over the last few months especially culminating in Harambee Stars’ thrashing at the hands of Mali in a World Cup qualifier.
The hiring of a foreign coach on a two month basis with no winning record was the epitome of anger from Kenyans.
FKF CEO Barry Otieno meeting with the inspectors from the Ministry of Sports
Over the last four months, the Federation has lost two partners with league sponsors BetKing walking away less than a year into their partnership while grassroot football partners OdiBets also walked out on the Federation.
Meanwhile, Sports CS Amina Mohamed has reiterated that the process to audit the Federation is not politically motivated. Speaking as she appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Sports, Amona said the process was to ensure that federations are run well.
“I invoked my powers under the law because we wanted to ensure that the process was legal, just and fair, and that no other externalities would influence the process,” she said.
“I want to assure you that we are going to go through all the process, so that we don’t jump into conclusions without due process, within the Ministry. We are not thinking of any politics affecting anything, what has driven us to do what we are doing now is actually the stakeholders that have a major interest in the sport as the government does,”
“If the audit says there is nothing amiss, everything is okay then we will know what we will do. If there issues there then we will address them together with the stakeholders that we are having discussions with because we feel they are not in full compliance with the Sports Act,” further added Amina.
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