Published on November 29, 2024 by Kariuki Mwangi
Last Updated on 2 years by Kariuki Mwangi
The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) vice president Doris Petra has officially declared her bid in the race for the position of FKF President in the upcoming FKF elective Special General Meeting scheduled to be held on December 7, 2024.
Doris announced her intension to succeed the current President Nick Mwendwa who has been the FKF boss for the last eight years.
In the race for FKF President, Doris is running alongside Mwendwa as her running mate.
Doris, a trailblazer in the Kenyan football landscape emphasized her commitment to building on the federation’s recent successes and driving the growth of Kenyan football.
She highlighted her historical achievement which have seen her rise from a National Executive Committee member to becoming the first ever female FKF Vice President noting that her ambition to become the first female FKF President is alive.
Doris and Mwendwa are currently leading in the pecking order of candidates following the recent Team Blue endorsement by more than 53 delegates.
During her tenure as FKF Deputy President, Doris has been at the forefront in the development of women football empowerment as well development of youth football.
Kenya has achieved milestones in women football as several women coaches have received training and graduated with CAF coaching licences. Jackline Juma is currently the first woman coach to take charge of a men’s premier league club, currently serving as the FC Talanta Head coach while Mildred Cheche is the coach of the national women’s under 17 team.
During the leadership of Mwendwa with Doris as the FKF deputy president, the national women’s team Harambee starlets has qualified and played in the CAF women’s cup of nations while for the first time in history, the national women’s under 17 team, Junior Starlets played at the 2024 FIFA under 17 World Cup in the Dominican Republic, collecting a crucial historical win against Mexico in their group stages.
Doris has promised to leverage of the successes that have been achieved in all spheres of football during the two terms she served as Mwendwa’s deputy and build on it to propel Kenya to even bigger echelons of football development.
Doris made a major stride towards victory in the upcoming FKF national elections after 53 delegates endorsed her joint ticket with running mate Mwendwa in a retreat held in Naivasha last week.
Team Blue recorded an emphatic win at the county level elections which were successfully held across the country with Team Blue winning in 32 out of 48 branches while 24 clubs have declared support for team blue to head into the polls with a major head start and an important show of confidence in the leadership of Nick and Doris at the helm of the federation.
The Petra- Mwendwa axis has anchored their agenda onto women football, youth development and capacity building for coaches, retired players and referees. During the last years when Mwendwa has been the FKF President with Petra as the FKF Deputy President, milestone achievements have been reached with the training of over 8,000 coaches who have attained different levels of CAF coaching licenses making Kenya among the countries that provide CAF Coaching instructors who are deployed by the continental body to train coaches in other countries.
Further, the national team Harambee Stars has played against formidable nations in international matches among them Qatar while youth and women football have experienced a steady rise. Furthermore, the men’s national Under 20 team has for the first time ever qualified for the AFCON Under 20 competition set to be held in 2025.
To underscore the development made under the watch of Mwendwa and Petra in women football, CAF has nominated the national women under 17 team junior starlets, the team coach Mildred Cheche and standout player Valery Nekesa for awards in the upcoming CAF 2024 awards in the women’s category.
