By Peter Ochieng

Nick Mwendwa is back in office as Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President.

Mwendwa was sounded out of the office towards the end of 2021 after Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Sports Amina Mohammed disbanded the federation and appointed a caretaker committee to take charge of football affairs in the Country.

“A caretaker committee has been appointed to manage affairs of FKF for a period not exceeding six months. This has been successful in other jurisdictions in recent years, the likes of Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana and Chad among others,” CS Amina said at the time.

The committee’s time elapsed and what is in place is the Football Kenya Federation transition committee. FIFA subsequently banned Kenya from all football-related activities, over government interference in football matters.

Mwendwa was arrested, charged and released on bail over corruption allegations. He denied the charges against him. The charges were later dropped for lack of evidence, and he is now back.

In a letter dated September 08, 2022, addressed to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Mwendwa says that he is back as FKF President.

“Reference is made to my letter dated November 29, 2021, with regard to the interim transfer of my powers and responsibilities as FKF President to the FKF Vice President,” Mwendwa says in the letter.

“In this regard, following the withdrawal of charges by the Directorate of Public Prosecution on July 8, 2022, I hereby wish to inform your good office that I have returned my duties as FKF President, with immediate effect, in accordance with Article 42 of the FKF constitution (2017),” he said.

He added that significant progress has been made towards complying with the FIFA directive of February 24, 2022, urging the government not to interfere with football activities in the Country.

Mwendwa said a meeting has been scheduled in the coming days with the incoming administration of President-elect William Ruto, geared towards actualizing the lifting of FIFA suspension so that Kenya makes a grand return to international football.