PRESS RELEASE
September 18 - Yesterday the Chairman of the FIFA/KFF Normalisation
Committee, Kip Keino, sadly stated at a press conference that I conned him
of Ksh 2,000 ($25) and later claimed his payment was for KFF shares in the
Kenyan Premier League Ltd (KPL), that I was setting up an unauthorized
league and that I resigned from the FIFA/KFF committee to do so. The facts
are:
- that Kip paid for 20 KPL shares at Ksh 100 each and dated, signed and
wrote in his own hand "paid on behalf of KFF Ksh 2,000" on the attached
letter inviting him to join the KPL Board;
- that the proposal for the Premier League to be run by the KPL was
agreed and authorized at two meetings chaired by the FIFA/KFF Secretary,
Silvester Ashioya, which were also attended by other members of the FIFA/KFF
committee;
- that I did resign from the FIFA/KFF committee over a week ago but, as
clearly stated in my letter to Kip and copied to the Sports Minister and
FIFA, not for the reason he cited.
I am disappointed and saddened by this unfair personal attack in the media
by someone I consider a friend. For myself and many others, Kip is and
remains a sporting legend and hero. I can only conclude that Kip was
seriously misinformed and misled by former KFF officials and their allies
who unfortunately dominate the present FIFA/KFF committee.
Regarding the claim that the KPL Ltd was unauthorized, relevant facts
include:
- On August 14th the FIFA/KFF Secretary, Silvester Ashioya, chaired a
meeting attended by nine members of the FIFA/KFF committee and the
representatives of 20 Premier League clubs where the following was agreed
and recorded in the official minutes (copy available on request):
"Members were in agreement on the urgent need to
have a Premier League Company put in that shall be responsible for
running, marketing and general management of the league. All
participating clubs shall be shareholders in the company. Since a model
of the same under KFG was in place, it was necessary that Bob Munro
circulate to all clubs the KFG Memorandum of the same by clubs." (see
Minute 7.2.2)
"Members agreed that a committee be put in place to look into the
modalities of setting up the Premier League Company. The up-country
clubs empowered the Nairobi clubs to be members of the committee and
agreed to abide by decisions of the committee. Clubs then appointed the
following as committee members: Bob Munro, Chairman, Mathare United;
Erastus Okul, Chairman, Gor Mahia; Simon Grant, Securicor Ltd; Mark
Ageng, Chairman General, Re-Union; Michael Esakwa, Secretary, AFC
Leopards. (see Minute 7.2.2)
"Members agreed that these fees will be handled by the Premier League
Company Management Board once put in place." (see Minute 7.2.3 on
"Participation and Registration Fees")
- As agreed, the next day (August 15th) I sent the KFG Memorandum and
Articles of Association to the clubs as an e-mail attachment.
- On August 20th Mr. Ashioya sent a letter to the five clubs on the
committee which states: "I write to inform you that during the Premier
League Clubs meeting on 14th August it was unanimously agreed that
a Premier League Company Limited be set up with the sole purpose of
managing Premier League affairs." (copy available on request)
- On August 21st the KFG Ltd shareholders met and agreed to admit the
other Premier League clubs as shareholders and to rename the company.
- On August 26th Mr. Ashioya chaired the meeting of senior club officials
of AFC Leopards, Gor Mahia, Mathare United, Re-Union and Securicor. That
meeting agreed to change the name of the KFG Ltd to 'Kenyan Premier League
Limited' (KPL) and adopted over 50 recommendations for managing the
company and league.
- On August 28th, 19 Premier League clubs met and approved the
recommendations and also decided the KFF will have voting shares and a
voting seat on the KPL Board.
- On August 31st a letter was sent to Kip officially inviting him to
become a voting member of the KPL Board on behalf of the KFF and FIFA/KFF
committee.
- On September 10th I had lunch with Kip and gave him a copy of that
letter. After reading it he offered and paid for the KFF shares and at the
bottom wrote the date, the words "on behalf of KFF paid 2,000" and his
signature (see attached copy).
In my letter of September 10th resigning from the present FIFA/KFF
committee, key points included:
" When we spoke on August 8th just before you left for Athens, you said
the FIFA/KFF Normalisation Committee would have 19 members and gave me
their names. Although citing some reservations, I agreed that was a
reasonable number with a reasonable chance of being effective. I was then
disappointed to hear at the meeting last week that the committee has a
total of 29 members.
The sad reality is that the normalisation committee and process is
dominated by former KFF officials and their allies who are responsible for
the corruption crises and misuse of KFF and FIFA funds. The failure to
normalise the committee ensures they will continue to dominate. For
example:
The former KFF officials dominated the first
delegation to FIFA by disgracefully withholding my invitation and then
manipulated the initial appointment process by giving you and FIFA a
list of members consisting largely of former KFF officials and their
allies.
Only one day after you and I returned together from the second
meeting with FIFA where it was agreed to change the membership, you
still chaired a meeting of only the KFF nominated members. Although a
member, I was not informed or invited. You chaired two further meetings
on July 28th and August 3rd with only the KFF nominated members.
Sub-committees have been created which are dominated by former KFF
officials and their allies.
Although named a member of both sub-committees on competitions and
the KFF constitution, I have never received an invitation, an agenda or
the minutes for any of their meetings (and finally received the minutes
of the first four meetings of the main committee only two days ago).
The Secretary has failed to act in a neutral and fair manner and
unwisely aligned himself with the former KFF officials and their allies
Regarding the meetings of the main committee on July 23rd, July 28th
and August 3rd, I note from the recently received minutes that only 13-14
members attended. As a normal minimum quorum would be 15 for a committee
with 29 members, the validity of the decisions taken is questionable.
On the committee itself, only 4 of the 29 members have been actively
and consistently involved in trying to stop corruption and reform the KFF.
But over 12 members are former KFF officials and their allies. I do not
mind a fair challenge when there is a reasonable chance of a fair hearing.
But with their racist remarks and crude threats which you personally heard
after the Minister left the meeting last week, that is clearly not
possible with the present membership.
Moreover, former KFF officials on the committee were members of the KFF
Governing Council where the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty' is
not an issue. They are guilty of repeatedly failing for four
years in their fiduciary duty as KFF Governors to circulate audited
accounts and for allowing or abetting so many violations of over half of
the Articles in the KFF Constitution. Consequently, they should be
disbarred by you or the Registrar from any further involvement in KFF
affairs. As to their allies, none were elected or appointed by the
stakeholders they purport to represent.
In sum, the current normalisation process and membership does not
provide a reasonable chance to stop corruption, get better statutes and
hold fair elections for new leaders who are committed to good governance,
financial transparency and stakeholder accountability. It is therefore
with regret that I withdraw my name as a candidate for the present
committee. So there is no misunderstanding, I also confirm yet again that
I will not stand in the KFF elections.
I want to emphasize that I still have the greatest respect for the
sincere efforts that you, the Minister and Jerome Champagne are making to
save and improve Kenyan football. I also sincerely hope you succeed
despite these many problems
Fortunately, some progress has recently been made on the key point in
the FIFA/KFF agreement on July 9th that "the Normalisation Committee shall
enhance the role of clubs". As you know, 19 of the 24 clubs met on August
28th and agreed to transform the KPFG Ltd into the Premier League Ltd (KPL)
with all clubs having equal shares and votes. The clubs also unanimously
agreed on the over 50 recommendations for managing the Premier League made
by the sub-committee chaired by the Secretary on August 26th. I hope you
will support this major new unification initiative. I also hope you will
stop the efforts by the Secretary and former KFF officials and their
allies to undermine it.
As a concrete demonstration of their commitment to unification and
partnership, the clubs also decided to depart from the legal format of the
English Premier League. Instead, the clubs agreed that the KFF will have
voting shares and a seat on the KPL Board.
On behalf of the KPL Chairman and shareholders, you were officially
invited by letter on August 31st to join the KPL Board and to attend and
address the KPL shareholders meeting to be held tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. at
the Utalii Hotel. It would represent a major step forward if you agreed to
do so."
Bob Munro
Chairman
Mathare United FC
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