Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Vice President MacDonald Mariga has been expelled from the federation’s National Executive Committee (NEC), alongside six other officials, following a controversial Special General Meeting (SGM) held in Meru on Saturday.
The former Inter Milan midfielder was removed from his position after 65 delegates voted in favour of a proposal to revoke his NEC membership, with AFC Leopards chairman Boniface Ambani emerging as the sole delegate to oppose the motion.
The meeting was chaired by FKF President Hussein Mohammed, who presided over the proceedings that culminated in the removal of seven members of the federation’s top decision-making organ.
Those expelled alongside Mariga include Dan Shikanda, representing Nairobi; Collins Kalee from Nyanza; Bernard Lagat from Rift Valley; Violet Kerubo, the women’s representative; Robert Macharia from Central; and Gabriel Mghendi from the Coast region.
Addressing delegates after the vote, Hussein said the affected officials had been given an opportunity to defend themselves before the assembly but failed to respond to the invitations.
He maintained that the seven had been asked to make submissions, either personally or through legal representatives, before the delegates proceeded with the proposed action.
“Just for the record, all the seven members of NEC who the Congress has taken action on today were invited to give submissions. None of them did. They never responded in writing. They never sent a representative. They were asked to even nominate a legal representative, but they never did,” Hussein said.
The decision followed a tense morning at the Three Steers Hotel, where the meeting was being held, as rival factions within the federation engaged in heated exchanges over the proceedings.
The disagreements escalated, prompting the intervention of police officers from the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) as tensions threatened to disrupt the gathering.
Teargas was subsequently deployed inside the hotel as opposing groups exchanged accusations and engaged in a war of words.
The removal of Mariga and the six other officials marks a significant development in FKF’s internal leadership politics, with the outcome of the Meru meeting expected to shape the federation’s executive structure going forward.
