Kenya Football .:. Story - Gmt's Open Letter To Fkl

I wish to comment and repudiate the claim attributed to both the Football Kenya Ltd Chairman Mr. Hatimy and his Senior Vice Mr. Kasuve that appeared in both the Standard and Kenya Times of Wednesday December 24th, 2008 to the effect that they do not need a Registrar's Certificate to operate and that once one affiliates to FIFA, it surrenders its sovereignty. These two senior officials are reported to have seperately made these remarks that are not only misleading but outrageously unfortunate.

It is a known fact that no Society or Company can operate legally in the country without a validly issued certificate by either the office the Registrar of Society or that of the Company no matter how small it may be.

Yes one may operate clandestinely for sometime but at some in the course of its operations it must have a certificate. How else would he/she even open account with any Bank without a certificate? A company like FKL, steeped in controversies day in day out with its fore runner KFF cannot last a month before someone goes to Court to challenge their illegality if they do not have a certififcate of registration.

It would be suicidal. It must be understood that FKL has employees who must pay taxes, and whose statutory deductions such as NSSF, NHIF must be remitted monthly. They will receive goods from FIFA and other well wishers from time to from overseas. These good must be cleared though Customs entry points. How would they clear such goods without PIN Certificate and PIN certificate will not be issued without a main Certificate of Registration from the AG's office. So what is Hatimy talking about? A certificate from the AG's office is not negotiable but mandatory.

Either Hatimy is himself ignorant of the law or is assuming Kenyans, especially those in football are idiots that will consume any rubbish he says in defiance of his position. Such misleading and outrageous statements coming from a top official of a national body such as FKL can only be termed as unfortunate and outright display of lack of basic knowledge governing operations of Societies and Companies.

It is also simple logic and common knowledge that FKL and any organizations involved in the management of football for that matter cannot operate in isolation without the support of the Government. All the stadias in the country which FKL affiliates in KPL and Nationwide Leagues, save for those that are owned by private Companies belong to either the Local
Authorities or Government appointed parastatal bodies as is the case with Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani and Nyayo Stadium.

The FKL needs security at its matches, they need travel documents such as Passport when they travel out the country, when they travel abroad where Government has an Embassy they will need to get their Visas sorted out in those countries. It therefore beats logic for a top officials to claim they do not need the services of the Government. Do I term this a careless or is it irresponsible statement?

As regards the issue of sovereignty of a National Association, [ie National Football Associations] I wish to affirm that no country looses it sovereignty by affiliating to FIFA as alleged by the FKL senior vice Chair Mr. Titus Kasuve. This is yet another outrageous and misleading statement.

I am surprised that Mr. Kasuve who has always carried himself as the expert in the interpretation of FIFA statutes [Constitution] can all over sudden take Kenyans for granted and mislead them that by affiliating to FIFA we loose our sovereignty.

Nothing can be far from the truth. This is as good as saying that Kenya by virtue of being a member of the United Nations ceases to be a sovereign state! What nonsense? Just as the UN is a league of nations with common guiding principles called charters which each signatory independent nation is expected observe and uphold, so is FIFA as an International NGO, an amalgamation of 107 countries with common objective with written 80 statutes and another 20 regulations governing the application of the statutes which members are expected to observe and operate under. This does not mean they loose their individual identities so long as they respect the statutes spelt out. Of course the statutes must also not violate individual member's rights and their respective countries laws.

Some people in football leadership appear so mesmerized with their new found positions that they think other than them the rest are ignorant of the FIFA statutes and that whatever they say is the gospel truth. Far from it. Some of us also have copies of these statutes and know what they say. Perhaps Mr. Kasuve has a different copy from what I have and from which he tell Kenyans which particular article in the statutes states once Kenya affiliated to FIFA we lost our sovereignty. I stand to be corrected.

Finally I take this opportunity to wish all Kenyan soccer lovers, players, referees, match commissioners, administrators and all the fans a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I also wish our national team Harambee Stars good luck and hope that they will lift the Cecafa trophy and enhance our standing in the next FIFA rankings.

GMT Ottieno
Secretary General,
Kenya Football Referees Association [KEFORA]
and Technical Advisor to Kenyan Premier League.
dECEMBER 30TH, 2008.