IEBC to oversee delayed Kenyan football elections
By Nahashon MusunguFootball Kenya Federation’s (FKF) Electoral Board says it has enlisted the services of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to help conduct its repeat elections.
Despite an ongoing case at the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT), FKF will head to the polls at the county level on March 14, with the national elections slated for March 27, 2020.
“We are working with the IEBC and other experienced players to aid us to conduct credible polls. We have been training polling agents and returning officers. We will then release the list of polling stations tomorrow (Tuesday),” Electoral Board chairperson Kentice Tikolo said on Monday.
And in a related development, former FKF president Sam Nyamweya has urged the body’s Electoral Board to postpone the elections pending the determination of a case filed at the SDT.
But the Board has turned down this request, with Tikolo stating that her team is keen on completing the polls by the March 30 deadline, which FKF president Nick Mwendwa says has been set by the sport’s world governing body Fifa.
But Nyamweya, who says he is keen on unseating Mwendwa, argues that it will not be appropriate for the polls to take place when there is a case in court meant to determine the eligibility of the exercise.
“It is an abuse of the court process for FKF as the petitioner in this matter (case) to purport to continue with the FKF electoral process before determination of the matter at SDT. It makes legal, economic sense to have the elections after the determination of the matter before the SDT,” said Nyamweya.
In the case filed at the SDT, FKF has sought orders to among other matters, compel the Sports Registrar to accept the returns of the polls and recognise the newly elected office bearers.
SDT chairman John Ohaga says he will rule on the matter on March 17, 2020.