Nick Mwendwa resigns as FKF president, he wrote to the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) National Executive Committee and informed them of his decision to step down from his role as president and relinquish those powers to his deputy Doris Petra.
Mwendwa wrote the letter a week ago, informing his NEC of his next move, just after being taken to court following his re-arrest.
The embattled football boss has told his executive that his family has not had peace since the ordeal began on November 12 and said he would be stepping down from his role.
“In light of the foregoing, specifically, the frequent arrests and detentions, which have adversely affected my family and personal business and whilst I am confident I will be cleared of any wrongdoing, in the end, I have today in accordance with Article 42(8) of the FKF constitution (2017) asked my Vice President Madam Doris Petra to assume all functions of the FKF president,” Mwendwa said in his letter to the NEC, which was made public on Tuesday.
He added; “Taking into consideration that I am personally being targeted in all this, my decision, has been arrived at with the federation’s best interest at heart. I want to thank the entire NEC family, for the support you have offered my office and the federation in general, in developing Kenyan football.”
Nick Mwendwa resigns as FKF president, Mwendwa has faced a torrid last one month since Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed took on a battle with the Federation over alleged mismanagement of public funds forwarded to the Federation by the Ministry.
A Committee picked from the Sports Registrar’s office in its report alleged gross misappropriation of funds forwarded to the Federation from the Ministry, including alleged fictitious withdrawals from the Federation accounts and transfers to Mwendwa’s personal accounts.
FIFA Officials Fatma Samoura and Sarai Beraman are welcomed in Nairobi by FKF Boss Nick Mwendwa
Amina invoked her powers under the Sports Act to form a caretaker committee, chaired by retired Chief Justice Aaron Ringera.
The Committee went on to halt league action with Mwendwa coming out to quash the appointments saying it was illegal and vowed to stay put.
He was arrested on November 12 where he spent the weekend behind bars before being released on Sh4mn cash bail. Last week, when the matter came up for mention, the Prosecution said they were closing the file on Mwendwa without preferring charges.
He was released and his cash bail reimbursed, but just a day later was re-arrested and presented to Court on Monday.
According to the charge sheet presented before the court, Mwendwa has been pressed with three charges of fraudulent acquisition of public property and one count of conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption.
All these totals to approximately Sh38mn. The alleged offences took place on March 4, 2021, May 6 2021, April 16, 2021, and May 15 2021. All these are related to transactions allegedly shown by a report from the Sports Registrar’s team that was given the mandate to audit the Federation.
On Tuesday, he was however released on Sh10mn cash bail and walked to freedom in the evening, with the hearing of the case scheduled for December 20.
The embattled football supremo now faces a long walk to prove his innocence, but it is not yet clear whether or not CS Amina’s decision to create a committee to run the game will remain.
Mwendwa had firmly insisted that the Cabinet Secretary’s actions were illegal and the Federation firmly remained in place. However, police have since barricaded the premises of the Federation, with no one allowed access in.
The Caretaker Committee had gone on to halt all top three tiers of the men’s game, but most of them continued with the exception of the FKF Premier League. The Committee has since created a new website for the league which has also listed down fixtures with league action starting on December 4.
FIFA has meanwhile remained silent on the issue since writing two letters, one to FKF CEO Barry Otieno and the second, from Secretary General Fatma Samoura to CS Amina asking her to retract the Committee decision.
There have been meetings between FIFA and the CS’s office, with Amina reportedly standing her ground that the Committee will remain in place.
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