FKF Wrangles: D-Day for McDonald Mariga-Led Faction to Provide Proof Over Hussein Mohammed Ouster

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) vice president McDonald Mariga and National Executive Committee members allied to him have up to the end of Friday to display to FIFA that they followed due process when asking president Hussein Mohammed to step aside.

Twelve FKF NEC members resolved to suspend Mohammed, nominated NEC official Abdullahi Yusuf Ibrahim and Acting General Secretary Dennis Gicheru over allegations of corruption in relation to a Ksh42 million CHAN 2024 insurance deal given to a newly-formed firm against lower bids from well-established companies.

The resolution came from a meeting held on Friday, April 24 and two days later, FIFA responded by asking the Mariga-led faction to furnish them with documents that prove due process was followed when removing the three officials.

"In this context, and for the purposes of this ongoing assessment, we kindly request the cooperation of the FKF National Executive Committee in providing information and documentation enabling us to verify whether the process leading to the provisional dismissal of the above-mentioned officials was conducted in accordance with the FKF Statutes, in particular Articles 38, 40 and 41 thereof,” said the statement from FIFA.

"Confirmation, together with supporting documentation where applicable, that the FKF President, Mr Hussein Rashid Mohammed, Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ibrahim and Mr Dennis Gicheru were each allowed to defend themselves before the adoption of the Resolution," the letter added, citing Article 41, paragraph 4 of the FKF Statutes, which states that any official facing removal must be granted the right to defend themselves.

The FKF NEC must provide an extensive paper trail, including documentation showing the meeting was properly called with sufficient notice, proof that the motion for dismissal was legally placed on the table, verification of how many members were present and the exact tally of the vote, and all reports and materials relied upon to justify the decision.

All these must be furnished to FIFA by the close of business on Friday, May 1, and it is a critical time for the Mariga team as if the NEC failed to allow Mohammed and his co-accused to answer the allegations before the vote, the entire resolution could be deemed null and void by FIFA.

That would lead to a refusal to recognise Mariga as acting president at a time when Mohammed has clung to his seat and dismissed his ouster as a ploy to frustrate him from cleaning up the house at FKF.

“FIFA has given both factions a chance to come to the realisation that this is not kid stuff and that is why they do not want to act or accept or be moved based on speculation or allegations,” former FKF CEO Lordvick Aduda said on Citizen TV on Monday.

“That is why they have asked for specifics…the elephant in the house are the documents. So, the deputy president, together with his colleagues in the NEC, if they acted in haste, out of third party insinuations, then it is going to be very sad for Kenyan football,” he added of the possible consequences.

“If they acted out of the whistleblower’s provision of the actual documents, then based on the gist of what FIFA has written, there is going to be some action.”