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{
"id": 33527,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/33527/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Otuoma",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports",
"speaker": {
"id": 132,
"legal_name": "Paul Nyongesa Otuoma",
"slug": "paul-otuoma"
},
"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue as to whether the integrity of the election process of Football Federation in Kenya and whether the candidates and the clerks have already been identified, I had a meeting with the Independent Electoral Board (IEB) which was appointed by FIFA to try and co-ordinate the activities of football elections in Kenya. This was due to the fact that there was no federation that had the credibility to carry out these elections. We agreed that an IEB must be put in place to prepare for the elections and to carry out the elections. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as much as FIFA requested the Government to play just a facilitative role, this process has been very slow. We were supposed to have done these elections last year. Every time, we have postponed for one reason or another. This prompted me to have a meeting with FIFA where they sent their representative all the way from their head office. They have reassured me that we will have elections this week on 13th. But last week when I had a meeting with the board, it appeared that was when the final list of the candidates and also the final list for the clubs were being put up. I had requested the board that we would like to see the lists of the clubs and candidates published in our daily newspapers at least with national circulation, so that members can have the opportunity to raise any issues that may have arisen from those lists. However, as I speak now, this has not been done. I am yet to find out why the lists of candidates and clubs were not published last week as we agreed. I have just come back to Nairobi. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of vetting, nine candidates applied to vie for chairmanship and various other candidates applied for other positions. The vetting process, procedure and guidelines were published sometimes back and agreed on. So far, I am assured that all the other vetting processes have been finalized. What was remaining was clearance by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) where some candidates who had not fulfilled that requirement had asked for more time to sort out their issues with them. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was assured that this process should come to an end by today. Those who will not have been cleared by the KRA by today, would have been considered not to have fulfilled part of the vetting process. That is the information that I had been given by the chairman of IEB. As to whether we will have the elections on 13th, this is something that has caused anxiety among ourselves. We had agreed with FIFA that the IEB should be left to act as independently as possible and the Government should only play a facilitative role. However, having spoken to them, they told me they had approached Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) to help them conduct these elections, so that they could have the credibility required. The last information I heard was that IIEC had not given them the budget required for them to carry out this process. Mr. Speaker, Sir, by last week, the IIEC also wanted to see the number of teams and candidates participating, so that they could work out their budget. That is where we stand now. I am very anxious because I had said that we do not want to pass this 13th August date. As I said, the issue of a credible federation to run our football in this country is so critical. I know my Cabinet colleagues have supported me on this process. His Excellency the President, the Prime Minister and even the Vice-President have really supported this process, so that Kenya’s rating in football cannot continue to drop. We are currently at number 130 and this is not a country that should be beyond 60. It is my intention to make sure that this process takes place. We have been very patient, but I have to admit that my patience has also been overstretched by the process. We still have an alternative as the Government that, if FIFA is not going to honour its part of the bargain, we are prepared to severe our links with FIFA so that we can re-organize our own football in our country. This is the message that I have told them very clearly. I have told them that as much as we have taken one whole year trying to organize for these elections, as much as the Government has given all that we can, all the co-operation and everything that we can as a Government, we will be very disappointed if at this last hour, FIFA does not honour its part of the bargain. I am sending a very clear message that we will have no any other alternative but to decide as a country to run our affairs and re-organize our own football."
}