Football Kenya Federation (FKF) deputy president Doris Petra is now of the idea that Kenya might face another FIFA ban if her and the FKF President Nick Mwendwa wont be allowed to vie in the Upcoming FKF election slated later this year.
Petra, in response to a formal correspondence by Sports Registrar Rose Wasike, issued a stark warning that barring their candidacy could lead to Kenya facing another FIFA ban.
Petra and FKF president Nick Mwendwa, were among official who were outsed from vying in the upcoming election.
Also reportedly barred from contesting by the Sports Registrar owing to the term limits are National Executive Committee (NEC) members Murithi Nabea (Eastern), Joseph Andere (Nyanza), and Enos Kweya (Western).
“Fifa are our financiers and we follow their laws but we also respect government institutions. Facts are facts and it is the same Registrar and Sport Disputes Tribunal (SDT) who allowed the same electoral code which is now being disputed, to be used in the last election,” she said during an Interview with Nairobi News.
The Kenyan law, in this case, the Sports Act, bars any elected sports official from seeking a third term. But Petra indicated she had blessings from Fifa, football’s world governing body, to extend her eight-year tenure.
“Let our opponents not fear and meet us at the ballot, Fifa hasn’t told us that we are not eligible for re-election. The law allows us to vie,” she said.
Petra said she ‘respects government institutions’ but stressed that ‘no law barred her’ from contesting for what she described as a second term.
“We assumed office in 2016 and the laws in that election were crafted during the tenure of Sam Nyamweya. In 2017, we had an Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mombasa and changed the constitution. These rules were used for the first time in the 2020 polls,” explained Petra.
“We won and served our first term from 2020 to 2023 because that is when the new constitution came to effect. We are seeking re-election because our serving under the old constitution from 2016 to 2020 can’t be counted. That is the law,” she said.
Petra asserted that she will be Mwendwa’s running mate and even when they complete their second term if re-elected, she will still be eligible to go for the federation’s top seat in 2027.
“The issue of (former president) Mwai Kibaki not vying after the promulgation of the 2010 constitution should be used to pin us down. Maybe he had his reasons but he was eligible. Even Mwendwa after finishing his term if we get elected can vie for other posts and I can also vie for FKF presidency.” .
