NAIROBI, Kenya, November 9, 2026 – Two days after his ouster as the second-in-command at Football Kenya Federation (FKF), vice president MacDonald Mariga has vowed to remain in office.
The former Inter Milan midfielder said he will keep fighting for accountability, transparency and good governance.
“The affected NEC members remain in office, and their constitutional mandates cannot be extinguished through an unlawful process. What transpired in Meru was a deliberate attempt to silence elected leaders who have consistently championed accountability, transparency and good governance within FKF,” Mariga said.
He further said he will exhaust all constitutional remedies to reverse a resolution that rendered him jobless – as did six other members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on Sunday.
“We reject the purported dismissal of the seven NEC members and shall not recognize resolutions arising from proceedings conducted in breach of the FKF Constitution. We reserve the right to pursue all available constitutional remedies to challenge the purported resolutions,” Mariga said in a statement.
He asked world governing body, Fifa, and their continental counterparts, Confederation of African Football (Caf) – as well as the Sports Registrar – to intervene and arrest the situation before it goes out of hand.
“We call upon FIFA, CAF and the Sports Registrar to urgently scrutinize the Meru proceedings, including delegate credentials, attendance, quorum and the purported voting process,” Mariga said.
The former Harambee Stars captain once again reiterated that they had been barred from accessing the hall of the meeting at the Three Steers Hotel even as 64 delegates voted for his ouster.
“The legitimacy of the proceedings is further undermined by the exclusion of 32 legitimate Congress delegates and credible evidence of impersonation and unauthorized representation. Individuals who were not duly mandated representatives of legitimate FKF members participated as delegates. These irregularities raise serious questions about the authenticity of the attendance register, the legitimacy of the quorum and whether any constitutionally prescribed voting threshold was attained,” he said.
Also stripped of their positions and authority were former AFC Leopards chair Dan Shikanda (NEC representative, Nairobi), Gabriel Mghendi (NEC representative, Coast), Bernard Lagat (NEC representative, Rift Valley), Kerubo Momanyi (women’s representative), Collins Kalee (NEC representative, Nyanza) and Robert Macharia (NEC representative, Central).
Saturday’s events leading to and during the Special General Meeting (SGM) were akin to a script of an action movie riddled with plot twists at every turn.
Flashback to Friday, a press release from the federation indicated that Mariga and Co would be facing the assembly, which would be considering their conduct, with the possibility of their expulsion.
Curious though was the absence of the name of FKF president Hussein Mohammed whose conduct — based on a letter sent a week before — was also to be discussed by the delegates.
This was in light of the deep rifts within the NEC, which have made it impossible for the 14 members to meet and conduct business, as Hussein-Mariga pull in different directions.
High octane start to proceedings
The activities of the material day of the were unlike any other scriptwriter could conjure up in his or her mind.
Mariga rolled up in a police landcruiser, sat in the front seat, complete with a battalion of officers from the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU).
This was amid rumours that goons had surrounded the hotel, preventing certain individuals from entering the venue.
What followed was a shouting match and push-and-pull as the officers ordered everyone out of the hall for the meeting, a teargas canister thrown by an unknown individual forcing delegates to scamper for safety.
When the meeting resumed close to an hour later, it didn’t take long before the purge began as delegates voted by acclamation.
One by one, each of the member’s fate was sealed as those in attendance voted in the majority for their expulsion.
In his closing remarks, FKF president Hussein described the process as necessary to weed out individuals he described as a drawback to efforts to transform Kenyan football.
“We must fix it and we must do it decisively and aggressively. It will not be business as usual. Now the mandate is clear. The majority of the delegates have spoken. We move and forge forward decisively and deliberately without any fear or favor. You will see significant changes in how we implement and execute our vision,” he said.
However, going by Mariga’s latest statement, football stakeholders have not seen the last of the Kandanda House Chronicles.
It is an epic thriller for which more popcorn would be appropriate as the plot thickens — to fall asleep would be a fatal mistake.
