Kenyan football leadership wrangles hit new high after chaotic meeting

During a Special General Meeting held over the weekend, 66 out of 65 national executive members voted in favour of the ouster of MacDonald Mariga – a former Kenyan international from the position of vice president of
Kenya’s football governing body.

Oliver Ochieng, Marabou News Agency

Former Kenyan international MacDonald Wanyama Mariga is no longer the Kenya Football Federation (FKF) Vice President.

Mariga, the only East African to ever win the UEFA Champions League – a feat achieved while playing for Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in 2010 was expelled from the federation alongside six other National Executive Committee (NEC) members, during a Special General Meeting held in Meru on Saturday, November 07, 2026.

Robert Macharia, Bernard Korir, Violet Kerubo, Collins Opiyo, Gabriel Mghendi and Daniel Shikanda are the other affected officials.

The seven were accused of passing a resolution to remove FKF President Hussein Mohamed from office in April, repeated failure to attend duly convened NEC meetings, unauthorized communication on behalf of FKF and actions considered contrary to the FKF constitution.

Trouble started when Mariga arrived at the venue in the company of a platoon of Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) officers who reportedly lobbed teargas, disrupting the meeting that was going on in a hotel hall.

The officers later left the venue allowing the meeting attended by CAF and FIFA observers, and Kenya’s acting sports registrar to proceed peacefully as the axe fell on Mariga and six other NEC members.

66 out of 65 NEC members present voted in favour of the expulsion, with only Bonface Ambani, another former Kenyan international, voting against the move.

Speaking after the meeting, Mohamed who was elected alongside Mariga in December 2024 for a four-year term, urged stakeholders to unite toward growing football in the country, now that neighbours Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are preparing to host the 2027 AFCON tournament under the Pamoja bid.

“The principal objective of FKF is to improve the game of football constantly and promote, regulate and control it through the territory of the republic of Kenya and in the spirit of fair play and its unifying educational, cultural and humanitarian values particularly through youth development programmes,” said the FKF president.

The ousted officials led by Mariga and Shikanda dismissed their expulsion terming it illegal, claiming that genuine delegates were locked out of the meeting.

They are yet to state their next course of action but a legal action is expected in the coming days.

Marabou News Agency

Editor: George Mutero

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