He also alleges that FKF airlifted joyriders to watch the AFCON using finances meant for the national team yet they now claim the money was used for administrative issues.
• The federation came into management on the platform of ‘Team Change’, what we have seen is totally the opposite.
Former Football Kenya Federation president Sam Nyamweya has called out on his successor Nick Mwendwa after allegations that Harambee Stars players who represented the country at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations are yet to receive their bonuses almost a year on.
Nyamweya claims that by finishing third in a group that had eventual winners Algeria, losing finalists Senegal and neigbours Tanzania, Stars were eligible for a Sh31.5m CAF stipend to add onto the Sh26m they had received in preparations for the tournament while betting firm Betin had sponsored the team to a tune of Sh20m.
In addition, the government, through the Ministry of Sports, Art and Culture had funded Harambee Stars to a tune of Sh244m, the largest amount a national team has ever received from the state.
“Football Kenya Federation had promised to pay the players all their allowances and winning bonuses before they boarded the plane to Nairobi after the competition,” says Nyamweya. “FKF outgoing president Nick Mwendwa is on record during his numerous television and radio interviews saying the players will be paid all their dues in full. It is now emerging that what Mwendwa was feeding the public was to say the least — Lip Service.”
Nyamweya observed that time has now come for Kenyans to demand an explanation from the federation.
“It is a shame that players who sacrificed their energies to represent the country, leaving their families behind are yet to be paid yet the federation had all the money to airlift and pay its NEC and branch officials per diem while in Egypt,” he observes.
However, FKF insists they are only left with just one unpaid bonus, a Sh10m government gratuity for their win against Tanzania.
“Following Harambee Stars win 3-2 win over Tanzania, the federation, on July 9, 2019, wrote a reminder to the Ministry of Sports requesting that Sh10m be advanced towards the payment of the match bonus as had been communicated,” wrote FKF CEO Barry Otieno.
“It is critical to remind all that the Sh10m bonus amount is an additional payment over and above other amounts which had already been disbursed to the players as follows; Sh50m bonus for qualifying to the AFCON 2019, which was deducted from the Sh 244m from the government and disbursed to each player. The government had promised this amounts to the players and the federation disbursed it to the team and the technical bench.”
He added that from this amount, each player received Sh750,000 when the team was in an overseas camp in France, before their trip to Egypt.
“Most importantly, FKF remains cognizant and fully understands the strain the COVID -19 pandemic has had on government resources and finances, and has proactively halted engagements on the outstanding bonuses until our country is free and safe from the COVID –19 pandemic,” added Otieno.
But Nyamweya would take none of that, claiming that FKF airlifted joyriders to watch the AFCON using finances meant for the national team yet they now claim the money was used for administrative issues.
“We demand to know which administrative issues cost Sh320 million. This is the same federation that is yet to account for over Sh 200 million from the world football governing body Fifa which they purportedly bought an OB van which has never been delivered,” charges Nyamweya.
In addition, Nyamweya adds, the federation is yet to pay the national women football team — Harambee Starlets — their dues despite getting funding for women football development from Fifa.
“It is time the government and Kenyans demanded total accountability from this federation. We demand that the office of Ethics and Anti Corruption, the Director of Criminal Investigations and the Director of Public Prosecutions take up this matter,” he says. The federation came into management on the platform of ‘Team Change’, what we have seen is totally the opposite.
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