Exclusive: Kakamega Homeboyz Chairman Cleophas Shimanyula Enters Race for FKF Top Seat
Kakamega Homeboyz chairman Cleophas Shimanyula announces his candidacy for FKF president, promising to revive Kenyan football with a focus on grassroots development. The FKF elections are set for December 7, 2024.
Image Credits: Nairobi Leo
Just a day after the newly constituted Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Electoral Board announced December 7, 2024, as the date for FKF national elections, Kakamega Homeboyz chairman Cleophas Shimanyula has announced his interest to vie for the presidential seat.
On Thursday, September 26, the Electoral Board chaired by Hesbon Owilla announced the date for the eagerly awaited exercise while County elections will be conducted on November 9 and 10, 2024 respectively.
Meanwhile, verification of candidates to contest for various seats will be held on November 15 and 18 while publication of the names will be done on November 19. The hearing of any disputes arising from the process have been set for between November 24 to 26.
Shimanyula Promises to Revive Kenyan Football
In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.com, Shimanyula confirmed he will be in the ballot for the top seat and promised to beat the other contestants.
So far, it is not clear whether current FKF President Nick Mwendwa will defend his seat, having served for two terms as required in the constitution.
“I want to declare my candidature for the top seat during the upcoming FKF elections and I am confident of winning with a landslide,” Shimanyula told SportsBoom.com.
“I have been following the happenings in Kenyan football, and many people (across the football family) have been asking me to come in and save the game from sinking deeper, so I want to state categorically that I have taken the advice of the voice of the people, and will be in the ballot.”
Asked why he had taken long time to announce his position, Shimanyula, who is fondly referred to as “Toto” said: “We wanted the Electoral Board to give out the roadmap first (before I declared), remember we have been having court cases delaying the process and it could not have been fair to state my plans while the process was not on going.”
“Now that the Board has released the timelines for the exercise and everybody knows when the polls will be held, let the Kenyan people know I will be vying for the top seat.”
Shimanyula, who is based in Kakamega County continued: “In the next few days, I will unveil my blueprint outlining what I want to do for Kenyan football. I will further unveil my team, those I will campaign with and work with when we take over the office.”
However, Shimanyula said his emphasis will be to streamline grassroots football by incorporating the 47 Counties to support the leagues and further said he will establish a proper and sustainable youth structure, introducing a footballers’ welfare scheme, and securing sponsorship for all leagues if elected.
“I will put more focus on grassroots football, that is where we have untapped talent, and then help them to come into the top leagues,” explained Shimanyula. “I will make sure we have proper and sustainable youth structures as these will be essential to our national teams, it will help build strong teams for both men and women.”
Shimanyula is the owner of Homeboyz, who are taking part in Kenya's Premier League. Last season, Homeboyz won the FKF Cup and got the chance to play in the Caf Confederation Cup where they failed to go past the second preliminary round after losing to Al-Hilal Benghazi of Libya on a 4-1 aggregate scoreline.
Electoral Board Promises Free and Fair Exercise
According to the FKF elections guidelines and regulations released by the Board, anyone seeking to view for the presidential seat must be an adult Kenyan citizen by birth, must have, at least, five endorsements from any of the FKF members, must have played an active role in football either as a player, member or an official of FKF in two of the last five years as per the FIFA Statutes and must satisfy the requirements for leadership and integrity set out in Chapter Six of the 2010 Kenyan Constitution.
The statement further said: “Aspirants who wish to submit their nomination papers to the Electoral Board will be accorded an opportunity to submit their candidature and pay the respective nomination fees, as provided for under the existing FKF Electoral Code and within the timelines stipulated in the Electoral Calendar.
“FKF members, who wish to withdraw their endorsements and/or endorse a different candidate in accordance with the FKF Electoral Code are free to do so, on the days provided for in the Electoral Calendar.”
This will require that a meeting is held by the club officials, minutes signed by the Chairperson and Secretary, and submitted to the Board. No club or FKF branch shall endorse two candidates.”
Meanwhile, the voter register at County level will contain clubs that have participated in the National Super league (NSL), Men Division One WPL, WNSL and are not eligible to vote at the national level, regional and county leagues for two (2) of the last five (5) years and are currently active. Each club shall be represented by one delegate. The clubs must be domiciled in respective Counties.
The Board chairman Owilla has promised a free and fair exercise by saying: “As per our mandate, the Electoral Board of FKF is committed to overseeing free and fair elections within the statutory framework of both the FKF and FIFA statutes. In this respect, the calendar has been developed to ensure an efficient process.
“Updates will be continuously communicated to participants and posted on the website in time for scrutiny. Our aim is to ensure an auditable electoral process for posterity.”
Shimanyula’s declaration now brings to six those who have shown their interest to take over football leadership in the country. Others include Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League Gor Mahia CEO Sammy Ocholla, Extreme Sports CEO Hussein Mohammed, former FKF President Sam Nyamweya, former FKF CEO Omondi Aduda, and former FKF Nyanza NEC member Tom Alila.
Dennis is a seasoned journalist in Kenya with over 18 years of experience. Having started his career at Kenya Times Newspaper, Dennis worked for Standard Newspaper for nearly six years as a Sports Writer. At Standard, he was privileged to cover Kenya's national team Harambee Stars outside the country, the biggest of all being the Four Nations tournament in Cairo, Egypt. He also covered the U17 team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.