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NAIROBI. — Ousted Football Kenya Federation boss Nick Mwendwa got a temporary reprieve after a court released him on bail pending the determination of an application, to detain him for two weeks, whose judgment is set to be handed out tomorrow.
Mwendwa’s court appearance also coincided with the Harambee Stars winning their first, and only match, in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, with a 2-1 victory over Rwanda, yesterday.
Kenyan bloggers quickly claimed this was a sign their national team was beginning to breathe again after stagnation in recent years.
They started their World Cup campaign with a goalless draw against Uganda, drew 1-1 away in Rwanda, lost 0-5 to Mali, 0-1 to the same West African opponents and drew 1-1 with Uganda.
Milimani Court senior principal magistrate Wandia Nyamu granted Mwendwa a cash bail of Sh4 million (about US$35 700) or the alternative of Sh7 million (about US$62 475) bond, with two sureties of the same amount.
He is now allowed to access his former office, contact FKF employees or attend any football match.
“He is to strictly comply with the conditions which also stop him from addressing the media concerning the dispute,” ruled Nyamu.
The embattled former FKF president’s freedom could, however, be short-lived depending on what the magistrate will rule tomorrow on the application by the director of criminal investigation to detain him.
Prosecution counsel Everline Onunga asked the court to detain Mwendwa for 14 days to allow them conclude investigations into the suspected fraudulent acquisition of public property.
According to the prosecution, Mwendwa is being investigated for allegedly transferring Sh8.5 million, (about US$75 862) from the FKF account, into his personal accounts and authorising the fictitious withdrawal of Sh29.5 million (about US$263 287) from the federation’s account.
“He was the FKF president and was in control of public funds advanced to the federation by the government and other donors . . . it is important that the court allows his detention for 14 days to allow detectives complete investigations,” said Onunga.
She relied on an affidavit by investigating officer Moses Mnangat who swore that they commenced investigations after receiving a report from the Registrar of Sports alleging fraudulent transactions at FKF.
According to the investigator, they were informed that there were money transfers from the federation’s accounts while government grants advanced to the federation between 2017 and 2021 could not be accounted for.
He added that since Mwendwa has vowed to continue serving as FKF president despite Sports Minister, Amina Mohammed, disbanding the federation, they are apprehensive that he will access his office and destroy evidence linking him to the alleged scandal.
Mwendwa’s fall from grace began on Thursday last week when Mohammed disbanded FKF and appointed a caretaker committee headed by retired Judge Aaron Ringera to lead the federation for six months. He was arrested on Friday and spent the weekend in custody before being brought to court.
His lawyers, led by Professor Tom Ojienda and Eric Mutua, opposed the application to detain him for another 14 days.
He accused the Minister of lying to Kenyans that the ex-FKF boss was being probed for Sh513 million (about US$ 578 525) loss at the federation when only Sh40 million (about US$357 000) was presented to court as the money allegedly lost.
Supporters of Mwendwa were yesterday teargassed at the Milimani Court.
The youths were chased towards Uhuru Park by police as Mwendwa was driven to court after 9am. A battery of lawyers comprising senior counsel Ojienda, former Law Society of Kenya president Mutua, John Khaminwa, Makueni County Senator Mutula Kilonzo and Charles Njenga are representing him.
Ojienda asked the magistrate to consider the wellbeing of football in the country, arguing that detaining Mwendwa was likely to lead to FIFA sanctions and lockout the country from major competitions.
“It is in the public interest that the country does not attract the ban from FIFA because if this happens, there will be no football in Kenya,” said Ojienda.
FIFA secretary-general, Fatma Samoura, at the weekend wrote a letter to the Kenyan Sports Minister to quickly open a window where they can discuss the developments in the country’s football fraternity. — The Standard/www.kenya24news.com/the-star.co.ke
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