Five contenders for the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections have raised concerns over the voter register and want certain irregularities addressed before the polls.Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the candidates who include former FKF President Sam Nyamweya, Hussein Mohammed, Tom Alila, Sam Ocholla, Jack Oguda and Sammy ‘Kempes’ Owino claimed the voter register had been altered.Former Kenya international Harold Ndege who read the statement on behalf of the contenders, claimed there were irregularities in 30 counties.“Altering the voter register undermines fairness. We have a situation where 30 counties have been affected and the voter register manipulated affecting 372 delegates,” he said.Ndege also claimed that the electoral board has been unable to deal with the complaints raised by those who are affected either by turning away genuine clubs to keeping them waiting for hours.“We also have an issue with the fact that the electoral board continues to operate at Kandanda house in a move that shows the lack of independence,” he added.The contestants now want the Ministry of Sports, the world football governing body FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to take immediate action and address their concerns.“We are also asking clubs not to accept a flawed process but continue to submit their petitions to the electoral board. We want the electoral process to be free and fair.”Further, the contenders also want the electoral board to only retain the oversight role of the process but allow the Independent Electoral Board Commission (IEBC) or the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to carry out the voting process.“We are also demanding that the FKF President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) not be involved in any way in the process to guarantee its independence,” he concluded.The elections will begin on Saturday 9 November at the county level and will be followed by the national elections on Saturday 7 December .It is still unclear if current FKF boss Nick Mwendwa will contest considering that the sports act bars him from seeking a third term.The seven demands include:1. The Electoral Board to be the oversight in the electoral process and appoint the Independent Boundaries Electoral Commission (IEBC) or the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to conduct the exercise with immediate effect.2. To immediately and transparently notify the members and stakeholders on any changes or updates made to the voters’ register and adherence to the 2013 Sports Act;3. The FKF President Nicholas Mwendwa and General Secretary, Barry Otieno be completely removed from participating in any role at the Electoral Board and we call upon the DCI and EACC to investigate their conduct immediately;4. The Ministry of Sports immediately undertakes to change the location of the Board from Kandanda House as there has already been a deliberate attempt to sabotage the entire process due to the current location:5. Strict oversight by both local and international stakeholders to guarantee a credible, transparent and verifiable electoral process.6. To convene a roundtable meeting with the Electoral Board & stakeholders to endorse the process.7. That FKF must inform the stakeholders on the body that is funding the Electoral process and whether the funds have been made available.
