Nairobi: Nick Mwendwa was on Wednesday named the new Kenyan Football boss after the incumbent Sam Nyamweya withdrew from the race just before the vote.
The 37-year-old Mwendwa, who had served as the head of the second-tier Football Kenya Federation (FKF) premier league, beat his sole opponent, Ambrose Rachier by a landslide to win the seat in the vote at the Kasarani stadium.
"Thank you very much for the change that is happening", Mwendwa told reporters after the victory.
"This is the chance to transform Kenyan football. Don't let down the thousands of Kenyans" who have been looking for the change, Sports Minister Hassan Wario told the incoming football boss.
Wario had taken the Nyamweya-led federation to task over misappropriation of funds, and the ill-fated trip to Cape Verde by the national football team, Harambee Stars for a 2018 world cup qualifier last November, where they lost the match 2-1 to bow out of the competition.
The team was left stranded at the airport, and the government was forced to charter a plane to take the side on the round-trip to Praia, where they arrived only five hours before the match.
Nyamweya, who was quizzed by the Kenyan police over the affair, said he was bowing out without any regrets.
"I have done my part. Over 22 years at the helm of Kenyan football is too long. It is time to give a young person the chance," said Nyamweya, whose tenure has been marred by a chaotic national football crisis, where two rival bodies were formed to organise the national league on parallel basis.
AFP
