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With the rising uncertainty over the future of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) -Caretaker Committee whose tenure is soon coming to an end, most clubs in the top tier are relishing a new dispensation and are calling on Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to fold the committee and chart a new way forward.

PD Sport conducted an in house quantitative research on the teams participating in the top tier and out of the 18 clubs, 11 agreed to respond to the questions, while seven declined. The seven that failed to take part in the research are league debutants Kenya Police and Talanta, Ulinzi, KCB, Tusker, Bandari and Bidco.

Out of the 11 club bosses reached for the survey, only one had confidence in the Caretaker Committee formed in November last year by Amina and mandated to run all football activities in the country, the other 10 have lost confidence in the committee led by retired judge Aaron Ringera.

The majority feel that the Committee whose mandate ends in the next three weeks are incompetent with poor communication and failure to meet their obligations as set out under the Gazette Notice of last year in November that made them operational.

Kakamega Homeboyz Chief Executive Officer Ben Kelli Shitiabayi is the only club representative who remains confident with the operations of the committee.

“We need to be objective enough to say that we have witnessed some progress and order. Indeed, we have had teething problems here and there but that was expected of a new baby. We hope that they get their mandate extended since we do not want to remain in limbo after the May 11 deadline reaches,” said Shitiabayi as he counted on their chances of winning the league and representing the country at the CAF competitions.

Greatest challenge

He added: “I think for us the greatest challenge with the office is lack of information and also sharing of the Income and Expenditure report but other than that, I cannot say we have so much of an issue with them. They need time and support to have things in place and as a club, we will want to see the suspension lifted and I know the government can work with FIFA on this issue.”

Kariobangi Sharks chairman Robert Maoga accused the Sports Ministry of creating disharmony in the game and taking the country backwards in the development of football with the appointment of the committee.

“We have gone back 10 steps and I do not see any impact the Caretaker Committee has made. Basic issues like officiating have gone to the dogs yet we receive no communication as would be the case. We do not even know if there is a functional Dispute and Resolution Committee. The Sports CS without as many consultations decided to ruin football and it is sad,” Maoga told People Sport.

Gor Mahia FC Secretary-General Sam Ochola has called for the former office officials to return to office as directed by the world football governing body Fifa, after the term of the caretaker ends.

“I strongly feel that we need to revert operations of the Premier League to the Football Kenya Federation secretariat. If the president (Nick Mwendwa) is not found guilty in his case, we need to resume normalcy under the National Executive Committee,” said Ocholla.

Club Administrators of Posta Rangers FC (John Tonui) and Nairobi City Stars FC (Patrick Korir) were more curt and direct in their assessment of the Committee with the latter saying the holding office was reducing the sport in Kenya to a laughing stock.

Standards way lower

“These guys have their standards way lower than the previous administration of the Football Kenya Federation. They have devalued the FKF-Premier League which then makes us all look cheap. As for information on Income and Expenditure, we have noticed a lot of secrecy and nothing is shared with clubs yet it is important to be kept abreast,” Korir, the CEO of City Stars told People Sport.

On his part, Tonui who is the chairman of Posta Rangers accused the Caretaker Committee of acting as an exclusive outfit and not involving the clubs in their projects.

“As a club, we are not satisfied with the performance of the Committee. We don’t get proper information and even picking up our calls is next to impossible. On its revenue and expenditure, we are not aware and of course, it is clear to us that we do not understand their plans or priorities. The CS Sports need to find a solution post-May 11 because I do not think it would be wise to have the office get an extension after their failures.”

Others who have taken issue with the Caretaker Office is Sofapaka CEO Jimmy Ambajo who feels that the committee has brought total confusion to the sport.

“There is a general feeling of disorder and confusion as to how football, especially at the top, has been run in the past five or six months. My biggest beef with them is that they lack proper communication which often leaves us in the dark and I also feel they have a very bureaucratic system up there. About the financials, we are not in the know of the current position of the Incomes and Expenditure,” Ambajo said.

Mathare United CEO Jecktone Obure said the Committee was treating clubs like outsiders and this he says has added to the acrimony witnessed currently.

“The relationship between the Committee and the Clubs especially in the Premier League is almost non-existent. We had only one meeting with the Committee where the Chairmen in attendance appointed four Co-Chairs to run the Liaison Committee with me as the Secretary of the group but that was it. It means there was no follow-up on the Caretaker Committee’s end yet it was agreed we need to be meeting every fortnight,” Obure said.

Nzoia Sugar FC CEO Anthony Fungututi has also dismissed the Committee as “under-performers”. “These people whom we had so many hopes on have failed to deliver and therefore failed football in this country. We have not even had a meeting about incomes or expenses at all and that means we are in the dark!”

Caretaker committee’s head of Leagues and Competitions Ali Armour declined to comment on the results of the survey.