How Mwendwa won FKF national elections

Nick-Mwendwa

To some, Nick Mwendwa’s comfortable win in Wednesday’s Football Kenya Federation (FKF) national elections was a surprise, but in real sense, all indicators showed that the 37-year-old Information Technology (IT) guru was on his way to clinch the seat.

According to Mwendwa, the polls were won during the final federation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on August 28, last year in Nairobi when they streamlined the election guidelines, ensuring the incumbents did have things go their way in laying down the rules of the game.

The AGM meant a lot to ‘Team Change’ that they had to do door to door campaigns to sensitize delegates taking part in the meeting to shoot down any proposals or rules that created unequal playing ground for other candidates.

Another factor that played to the advantage of Mwendwa at the polls was the fact that he started his campaigns early enough and his organisation was on top notch.

By the time he was starting his campaigns in March last year, physically visiting each branch and sub branch to sell his policies, many sitting officials and even pundits dismissed him as a none starter while others claimed that he was meeting the wrong people who were not voters and would not influence the elections out come.

“This time I was ready for the polls unlike in 2011 when I vied for the National Executive Committee (NEC) position for Nairobi and lost.

We had a strategy and it worked and I can openly say that we won the polls during the AGM, the final elections were just to rubber stamp the victory,” Mwendwa told People Sports.

He admitted using huge amounts of money in the campaigns that he didn’t specify, but said he was not in the sport for personal gains. “Every campaign requires money and this is not exceptional.

I have been running a team for more than a decade, using millions of Shillings with nothing in return, so that clearly shows that I’m not in football to make personal gains but for the love of the sport and in pursuit of a dream that would make the sport a major income earner for the youth,” said Mwendwa.

Unlike other opponents, Mwendwa and his team had put up a secretariat that coordinated the campaigns, ranging from the organisation of meeting venues, transport of delegates and other contingencies.

They also had a polling centre with a website (http://rush.co.ke/teamchange/) with a data base that showed all the branch and sub branches with all the aspiring candidates and their contacts and the ones they had won.

Team Change had also commissioned a research company to conduct an opinion poll that showed they were unrivaled and a few days to the national polls, Mwendwa said he was certain of getting at least 48 votes out of 77 and eventually went two votes better on the material day.

10 things Mwendwa need to address urgently:

-Promotion and relegation criteria in the top league and other leagues

-Permanent office for the federation

-Referees trainings to ensure high levels of officiating

-Formation of a powerful and impartial appeals committee to handle cases of leagues discrepancies

-Seek sponsorship for the local leagues

-Begin early preparations to ensure that Kenya features in 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and 2022 World Cup

-Roll out plans for a successful hosting of the 2018 CHAN event

-Seek sponsorships for Harambee Stars

-Devolve the running of the sport, by creating working structures

-Revamp junior national teams and women football.

Source