Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa has moved to strongly deny claims of embezzling funds at the federation headquarters.
Mwendwa, who is seeking a second term in the forthcoming football polls, is accused of misappropriating Sh244 million budgeted for Harambee Stars’ 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
On Thursday, the football boss spent the better part of the day at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) where detectives were searching for answers over budgeting among other issues.
“It is normal to be asked to record a statement. I am clean and have nothing to hide even though some media houses were sent by my opponents to wait for me outside the DCI offices with big cameras,” said Mwendwa, during an interview with NTV on Friday.
Mwendwa now blames his political rivals for his predicament but the DCI said the interrogation concerned the manner in which the funds allocated by the Ministry of Sports to the federation have been used in the past four years.
“I have been there (at the DCI) four times in the recent past. I am even surprised that people and the newspapers are talking about it. Maybe because my opponents fear me.”
The soft-spoken administrator admitted detectives also sought clarification on the players’ bonuses and the allowances that the football officials took home after the tournament.
“I was asked about the Nations Cup money. You saw players (from other countries) go on strike in Egypt. We never went on strike. We paid players (a total of) Sh78 million. Some of them including (goalkeeper) Farouk Shikalo have built houses for their parents with these allowances,” he added.
“I have to be paid to work. I was out of the country for 64 days. But it was not Sh50,000 a day. It is political season and several people who could not adequately kit and prepare Harambee Stars for a match are now complaining that the monies we were given by the government and sponsor should be accounted for.”
Earlier this week, murmurs over the usage of the money allocated to the team were echoed by the national team captain Victor Wanyama, who said that the team has not been paid even their winning allowances after they beat Tanzania in the last group match.
Mwendwa’s tenure at FKF ended on 10 February 2020 but the ruling by the Sports Disputes Tribunal on the polls has seen him prolong his stay, going by a recent directive from by the world football governing body FIFA.
