Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Hussein Mohammed has warned that action could be taken against seven dissenting National Executive Committee (NEC) members, insisting that a small faction will not be allowed to hold Kenyan football hostage.
Hussein spoke on Wednesday after a scheduled NEC meeting at Nairobi’s Weston Hotel failed to take place amid an escalating leadership dispute over governance and accountability.
The standoff pits Hussein against a faction of NEC members, including his deputy McDonald Mariga, who accuse him of abandoning an agreed consultative process and proceeding with formal meetings before addressing their concerns.
Asked whether he would pursue the impeachment of the seven members through Congress, Hussein said all options remained open within the FKF Constitution and FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF) statutes.
“We cannot allow seven people to hold football back. I mean, Congress is made up of 92 people,” he said. Hussein maintained that NEC members had a responsibility to attend meetings and discharge their duties in accordance with the constitution. “As NEC, we have a fiduciary duty to adhere to the Constitution and to attend meetings,” he said.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the dissenting members said they had sought pre-consultations after two consecutive NEC meetings collapsed in August and September over unresolved governance concerns.
They claimed Hussein had agreed to discussions on October 13, during which they presented 13 concerns and proposed solutions. However, only four issues had been addressed by Tuesday evening, according to them
The members accused Hussein of abandoning the agreement to continue consultations on Wednesday and proceeding with the formal NEC meeting before the outstanding matters were resolved.
“To our surprise, the President has subsequently abandoned the agreed pre-consultative process and opted to proceed with the formal NEC meeting before the outstanding concerns have been fully discussed,” their statement read.
Hussein questioned their decision to stay away, arguing that their concerns were already on the agenda. “Why not come to the floor of the NEC meeting and address those issues?” he asked.
