Published on November 30, 2024 by Kariuki Mwangi
Last Updated on 2 years by Kariuki Mwangi
The High Court sitting in Naivasha yesterday, Friday 29 November quashed a case that was challenging the candidature of Doris Petra and Nick Mwendwa in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections set for December 7, 2024.
Doris Petra who is the outgoing FKF deputy president is contesting for the FKF presidency with Nick Mwendwa, the out going FKF president as her running mate.
While throwing out all prayers sought by the applicant, former FKF Nyamira branch chairman Luthers Mokua, Naivasha High Court Judge Justice Grace Nzioka ruled that Mokua failed to convince the court that the joint candidature of Doris Petra and Nick Mwendwa was inconsistent with the provisions Sports Act, Sports Registrar’s Regulations of 2016, the FKF Constitution, the constitution of Kenya and any other enabling provisions of law.
Reacting to the landmark ruling,
Petra was particularly over the moon after all the three applications were thrown out paving way for her candidature which will be a historical moment as the first woman ascends to the FKF presidency.
“We are happy that justice has prevailed. This case was supposed to distract us but we stayed put and continued engaging the delegates because we knew what to focus on. We thank our lawyers for not only doing their well-done job but also helping in the bringing clarity of the law on this matter,” Petra said.
“We are now energized more than ever heading to the December 7 election. We are confident of winning, so that we can put this process behind us and concentrate on building the beautiful game,” Petra added.
Mokua had prayed to the court to strike Petra and Mwendwa from the FKF presidential ballot on three grounds. In his first prayer, the recently dethroned Nyamira chairman wanted the court to quash the decision of the FKF Electoral Board which was listed as the first respondents in the suit to publish the two as candidates for the federation’s presidential election.
Mokua also wanted the court to declare the third respondent – Mwendwa – ineligible to vie for the FKF Vice President position for having served two full terms as the federation’s president.
Another order that Mokua sought was a declaration that Article 43(3) of the FKF Constitution 2017 is inconsistent with the provisions of Section 46(5) of the Sports Act No.25 of 2013 and is therefore null and void.
However, the court declined the first prayer as unmerited, while the second was interpreted as “normally futuristic,” and therefore cannot be applied on a process that has already started.
The court declined the third prayer as it was not convinced on the grounds raised, while it also found that the applicant had not exhausted the dispute settling mechanism as provided for in the FKF constitution.
According to Article 37 (f) of the FKF constitution, all members of the NEC are eligible for a maximum of two terms in a position.
“The FKF constitution does not bar a member of the national executive committee, including the president and deputy from seeking election in a different position as it shall count as a new as a term of office in its own right,”
Lawyer Japheth Munyendo who represented Petra and Mwendwa in the suit explained that no fault was found on provisions of all relevant laws and regulations.
“The ex parte applicant Luthers Mokua failed to convince the honorable court that the joint candidature of Doris Petra and Nick Mwendwa was inconsistent with the provisions Sports Act, Sports Registrar’s Regulations of 2016, the FKF Constitution, the constitution of Kenya and any other enabling provisions of law,” Muyendo said.
“The net effect is that when called upon to impeach the said candidature, the court downed its tools, seeing no fault on provisions of FKF constitution that Doris and Nick candidacy is hinged on,” Munyendo added.
The court ordered Mokua bear the cost incurred by the respondents in the suit.
Doris Petra is facing competition from seven other candidates including former Nyanza NEC member Tom Alila, Chris Amimo, Sam Ocholla, Sammy ‘Kempes’ Owino, Cleophas Shimanyula, Hussein Mohammed and Barry Otieno in the race to succeed Mwendwa as the FKF president in the December 7 polls.
