Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Nairobi West Chair Benard “Rama” Omondi has outlined his vision for revitalizing football in Nairobi after returning from a six-year ban. Omondi was first elected in 2016 as the vice chairperson of the Dagoretti Sub-Branch but faced suspension shortly after taking office. “When Team Blue first came into office, they banned me for participating in an unsanctioned league, Extreme Sports, organized by Hussein,” Omondi explained. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8566360##The Extreme League, originally a tournament, evolved into a full league after stakeholders raised concerns about the federation’s poor management of official leagues. Omondi, serving as an official for one of the participating community teams, found himself at odds with the federation. “But you see, the team wasn’t mine—it was a community team, and I was just an official. I was told to either resign or face a ban. I couldn’t resign because the community entrusted me with the responsibility, so I was eventually banned for six years,” Omondi recounted. Omondi also pointed out inconsistencies in the ban, as his co-accused, Obango Athanas, was allowed to vie for an FKF position in 2020. Others banned at the time included John Ochieng, Omondi’s deputy and former Starehe Sub-County Chairperson, and current Kiambu Women Representative Joyce Koi. FKF promises merit-based selection for new Harambee Stars coachAfter serving his ban, Omondi was elected chairperson of FKF Nairobi West County, covering Dagoretti North, Dagoretti South, Starehe, Kibra, Westlands, Lang’ata, and Mathare constituencies. Now tasked with improving football standards in his jurisdiction, Omondi has set his vision around five key pillars to guide the development of the sport in Nairobi.Professionalism“Our county has been run in an unprofessional manner. We lacked the basics. For instance, the branch has been running for almost four years without a physical office yet it is the second largest branch in the country.We also intend to have a fully fledged secretariat to be in charge of normal operations like fixtures, transfers, communications in and out and responding to queries among others,” he stated.Despite being in office for just about one month, Omondi has already set up a physical office that is located in Kilimani.##NAJAVA_MECA_8564486##Value in the Leagues.The second pillar that he will be working on is to create value in the leagues which will in turn make them attractive and easy to catch the eye of corporate partners.“We are looking at having top performers in the league being rewarded and have something to go home with in terms of trophies, financial awards and even individual awards.People will then have motivation and something to fight for,” he said.Devolved FunctionsOmondi wants to make Nairobi West the first branch to devolve functions as well as resources to the sub-branches and make them autonomous while at it.“I intend to devolve some functions to sub-branches and allow them to have some financial autonomy.Sub-branches will run sub-branch leagues and pick affiliation fees by themselves so that football can go to the lowest unit possible and develop from there. I believe that will strengthen the lower units.”FKFPL: KCB, Sofapaka share spoils in Murang’aWomen and Youth LeaguesWomen and Youth football also have a place in Omondi’s vision for Nairobi West in conjunction with the women’s representative.“We want to give women’s football more resources and give the women’s league more visibility.To that, I will be looking to work hand in hand with my women representative to ensure that we run a progressive and vibrant women’s league,” he remarked.##NAJAVA_MECA_8564406##Capacity Building The last pillar in Omondi’s vision is to improve the capacity of all stakeholders while putting a keen consideration on merit.“We intend to improve the capacity of match officials, club officials and players through training programs so that they can grow in their respective areas.”
