The Football Kenya Federation National Executive Committee has today issued resolutions demanding its chairman, Hussein Mohammed, Abdullahi Yusuf Ibrahim (nominated member) and Dennis Gicheru (acting secretary general) to step aside from their offices on several grounds, including embezzlement of 42 million Kenya Shillings related to CHAN.
FKF President Hussein Mohammed (Source: Capital FM Sports)
Additionally, they have frozen all FKF accounts where Hussein Mohammed is a signatory and called for the appointment of an independent forensic audit of all of FKF’s operations. The full list of accusations against the three officials is summarised as follows:
Systematic exclusion of a majority of NEC members from performing their duties per the FKF Constitution
financial impropriety
misappropriation of 42 million Kenya Shillings from CHAN Bank accounts
serious breaches of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act (2015) and the Public Finance Management Act
Conflict of interest
The Hussein administration came in on a platform of turning around the malaise and mismanagement that had mired his predecessor, Nick Mwendwa’s term. That the same concerns have already dogged this current administration to the point that these senior officials are being asked to step aside is concerning. Earlier this year, the Federation chair had his CEO, Harold Ndege suspended, only for Ndege to contest his ouster in court.
McDonald Mariga has to step up and lead the FKF in these challenging times.
Former Kenya and Inter Milan footballer McDonald Mariga will step up into the chairperson position, in an acting capacity, as investigations continue into Mohammed and the other two NEC members asked to step aside. In addition to these challenges, he will have to take over the final stages of ensuring Kenya’s ability to meet its end of the joint responsibility to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Local businessman and cricketing enthusiast Bhavesh Gohil takes charge of Cricket Kenya on a manifesto that promises big changes.
In what was reportedly a landslide election, Bhavesh Gohil has been elected to the Chairmanship of Cricket Kenya. Together with his slate of candidates, Mr Gohil takes over the executive board of Kenya’s cricketing governing board, in a poll that only went ahead at the climax of power struggles between two factions of the outgoing board, in which even the election itself was mired in litigation in the days leading up to it
Bhavesh Gohil elected Cricket Kenya chair after beating Tom Tikolo 38-18 in polls at Ruaraka Sports Club, Nairobi pic.twitter.com/mjqs9ZIOKc
Mr Gohil, a Kenyan businessman and member of the storied Nairobi Gymkhana Club, came to the fore in recent times when he fronted himself as a candidate for Vice-chairperson in a by-election that ultimately was cancelled by the Sports Registrar over the legality of the persons who would have served as the electorate at that time.
Newly elected Cricket Kenya Chairperson Bhavesh Gohil, and newly elected VIce-Chair Pearlyne Omamo (Source: Citizen Digital)
Also elected to the board were Alfred ‘Boi’ Njuguna in the role of treasurer, Damien Omonywa – Director of County Associations, and Charity Wambui as the Director of Women’s Cricket.
In an interview he gave to a local TV station, on the launch of his manifesto, he spoke of prioritising an audit of the finances at Cricket Kenya, though he emphasised that the role of actual punishments, should misconduct arise, was not his but the courts.
He takes over a sports federation with a massive trust deficit with local and international stakeholders, and (according to me) has to engage in some political fighting right from day one if (or when) the forces who tried to stop the poll altogether rush to court to cause even more drama.
In the meantime, he also has to come good on his plans to reimagine player pathways from junior to senior cricket, revive the women’s league and re-establish a Kenya ‘A’ team, and bring in new partners to the game. Should he make progress in these areas, it will go a long way in getting Kenya back into the mix as one the best Associate members in the short term, and possibly re-kindle the remote dreams of eventually progressing to full membership in the ICC, where the real revenues and opportunities lie.
A flurry of court actions has further muddied the waters of the process of bring to a close the leadership challenges bedeviling Cricket Kenya
The lead-up to the election of a new Cricket Kenya Executive Council seems to have run into even more headwinds, as several injunctions and counter-injunctions by competing factions in the incumbent board threaten to derail the entire process.
Former Kenya International and coach David Obuya is among those who have filed suit to stop the election of a new Cricket Kenya Board (Source: Obuya Cricket Academy)
Firstly is an injunction that was granted to a petition filed by former Kenyan International David Obuya and one Juliana Kathure on the 13th of April, in which these petitioners got the Human Rights division of the High Court to issue staying orders on the poll set for the 19th.
On the same day, the ICC recognised faction of the Cricket Kenya board filed a case with the sports dispute tribunal, in which the SDT sanctioned their rival board members, the suspended treasurer, and 19 County Cricket Associations for, essentially failing to honour the arbitration process brokered by the International Cricket Council, and the Government of Kenya (through the Ministry of Sports) the culmination of which would is the election of a fresh Executive board to move the game forward. In this filing, the SDT bars the 19 CCAs and suspends the CK treasurer from engaging in the polls.
In the third court filing that this writer has seen, the SDT provides further directions to the case involving the Cricket Kenya board and its rogue County Associations, requiring that the parties file their documents by the end of today, that the hearing will take place tomorrow morning at 10:00am East African Time.
While all that is going on, Bhavesh Gohil has launched his manifesto for Cricket Kenya, with the support of several coaches and former internationals. The things he commits to: grassroots developments, governance reform, player welfare, infrastructure development, sustainable financial growth and establishment of a high-performance centre, are fantastic things to get at, but as seen with the tenures of Samir Inamdar, Jackie Janmohammed, and Manoj Patel, these things are much easier said than done.
The path to an end of the crisis in Cricket Kenya’s leadership may yet have a few more twists and turns, as the IEP, leaves the fate of Kenya’s cricketing heartland in limbo, ahead of a crucial vote.
The Cricket Kenya Independent Elections Panel has published a list of qualified and disqualified counties, sans Nairobi and Mombasa, in the build-up to the election of the Cricket Kenya Executive board on the 19th of April. The Panel has cleared 19 County Cricket Associations to vote as delegates for the election of a new Cricket Kenya Elections Board, and disqualified 13 other applicant counties, of whom 11 were named.
Robert Bukusi, in his role as Secretary to the IEP, published a list of Counties cleared to contest the Cricket Kenya elections on April 19th (Source:Shujaapride.com)
As reported in the Standard Newspaper, the 19 listed counties were cleared based on registration under the Sports Act, Article 7.1.2 of the Cricket Kenya constitution, evidence of cricketing structures, and a written commitment to comply with the Cricket Kenya Constitution and Sports Act.
Given that these have been the historical heartlands of Cricket in Kenya, it does not bode well for the validity of the elections, or the legitimacy of the board that gets elected, even if they are conducted in full accordance with the letter of the law. That legitimacy with local stakeholders will be important to repairing Cricket Kenya’s standing with the ICC, which has been under scrutiny since a leadership crisis split the incumbent board late last year.
The following counties were cleared to vote: Bungoma, Busia, Embu, Homa Bay, Laikipia, Kajiado, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kilifi, Kirinyaga, Kisii, Kisumu, Kilifi, Makueni, Murang’a, Nakuru, Narok, Nyamira and Vihiga.
The Standard report indicates that there were 13 Counties that applied, and were denied clearance to participate in the poll, naming 11 of them as: Baringo, Bomet, Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Turkana, Kericho, Migori, Samburu, Tana River, and Nandi.
A map of the Counties of Kenya with those approved to take part in the Cricket Kenya Poll in green, and those who applied and failed to qualify highlighted in red
The elephant in the room is the Nairobi and Mombasa County Cricket Associations, who (unless it is an oversight by the Standard Reporter) appear to have ignored, or maybe even boycotted, the electoral process altogether.
Given that these have been the historical heartlands of Cricket in Kenya, it does not bode well for the validity of the elections, or the legitimacy of the board that gets elected, even if they are conducted in full accordance with the letter of the law.
The Cricket Keya Independent Elections panel has cleared a slate of candidates to contest for a board position, paving the way for April’s elections.
In a letter dated 1st April, the Ministry-appointed Independent Elections Panel has cleared a slate of candidates to contest the upcoming Cricket Kenya Elections, slated for their AGM in April this year.
Bhavnesh Gohil has been throwing his weight around in cricket circles recently (Source: The Star)
This election could either mark the beginning of the end, or a higher level of the controversies of the Cricket Kenya board that blew up into the open in August of last year. Of the existing incumbent board members, only Director of Women’s cricket, Pearlyne Omamo, is seeking an elective post. She is the only candidate cleared to run for the Vice-Chairperson post and will thus likely sail through. unopposed.
Pearlyne Omamo, an advocate and former Women’s International cricketer, is the only member of the current Cricket Kenya Board cleared for re-election (Source: ADRA Advocates)
Other incumbents, such as Chairperson Manoj Patel, and Director of Development Kennedy Obuya have run into legal troubles regarding the misappropriation of Cricket Kenya funds, while the other board members appear not interested in continuing (at least not through the elective seats)
Headlining the rest of the list of cleared contestants are businessman Bhavnessh Gohil and former Cricket Kenya CEO Tom Tikolo, who have been cleared to contest the Chairperson’s seat. Bhavnesh had earlier sought the Vice-Chairperson seat in an aborted by-election, and has made alot of promises to revive the game in Kenya.
His opponent, Tom Tikolo is the elder brother of former cricket captain and widely acknowledged national sporting hero Steve Tikolo. Tom himself was also a national team player in the early 1990s. Tom’s biggest contribution was serving as the inaugural CEO of Cricket Kenya, serving from 2007 up to 2009, when he stepped down over unaccounted funds related to a youth team tour to the West Indies.
The rest of the cleared candidates are Alfred Njuguna Njoroge and Chidambaran Subramanian who will vie for the treasurer’s position. Damian Omonywa and Vidya Chandrasekhar, contesting the Director of County associations position; and Charity Wambuiand Sarah Kemunto Mayaka who will vie for the Director of women’s cricket position.
This international break sees Kenya’s Harambee Stars incorporated into a new kind of friendly match, the FIFA series. Our very own Harambee Stars are one of over 50 mens senior teams from across the FIFA confederations, that have been roped into a tournament reminds this writer, of the short-lived UEFA Intertoto Cup.
In this window, our Harambee Stars are in Kigali to play in a 4 team knockout, against hosts Rwanda, European minnows Estonia and the Caribbean Island of Grenada (Rwanda A group per the overall structure of this series). Kenya play Estonia on Friday evening (19:00hrs EAT) for an opportunity to face the winner of the Rwanda v. Grenada on the 30th of March. The losers will face off in a 3rd place playoff on the same day.
Al Arabi’s Michael Olunga is a late squad omission for Kenya in the FIFA series (File Photo)
Going into these games Harambee Stars head coach Benni McCarthy will start to feel the heat if Harambee Stars do not give a good showing. There were signs of life during the East Africa hosted CHAN. Kenya made the quarterfinals, only for that hope to be dashed by a 8-0 thrashing at the hands of Senegal’s Teranga Lions in a friendly match in late 2025.
McCarthy’s squad selection is already facing scrutiny, with the South African coach’s decision to include William Lenkupae, currently unattached, among the selections attracting attention.
Kenya’s opposition on Friday, Estonia have not exactly set the world on fire since the Baltic nation was restored to independence in 1991. They most recently finished 4th in the 5-team UEFA FIFA World Cup qualifying Group, with a record of 1 win (3-2 away to Moldova), a home draw against Moldova, and six defeats against group winners Norway, Italy and Israel.
Coming into the current international break, Estonia is ranked 128th in the FIFA World Rankings, 13 places behind Harambee Stars, thus it would be reasonable to expect that Kenya should beat the Eastern Europeans on Friday, yet any kind of complacency could see Benni McCarthy’s tenure face even more embarrassment.
This post is a call to action for all the motosports fans in Kenya. I have not written much on the motosport scene in Kenya, but for this young man, I will make an exception.
Fifteen-year-old Rufus Njeru Holmes, the rising Kenyan-British racing talent, continues to make his mark on the motorsport scene after an outstanding podium finish in Round 4 of the Central Rotax Max Challenge held this past weekend at Whistling Morans.
Rufus Holmes poses next to his racer (Photo Credit: Sports Beat)
Representing Kenya with pride, Rufus competes in the British Rotax Max Championship, where he’s quickly gaining recognition for his remarkable focus, technical skill, and consistency on the track.
Rufus Holmes (car 94) in action in Athi River Machakos (Photo Credit: Business Now)
Rufus is thankful for the support of Rotax Kenya, its chairman Norris, his mechanic James, and all the racers at the event — who proved to be formidable opponents and made the competition an exciting and memorable one.
Following his latest success, Rufus will host a fundraiser on Saturday, November 1st, at Whistling Moran, bringing together fans, sponsors, and members of the motorsport community to celebrate his progress and raise support for his 2026 racing season.
“Every time I race, I carry Kenya with me,” says Rufus. “It means a lot to come home, meet supporters, and share my journey. The encouragement I get from here keeps me pushing harder.”
The event will offer a chance for motorsport lovers to meet Rufus in person, hear his story, and be part of his journey as he continues to represent Kenya internationally. Funds raised will go towards training, travel, and participation in the upcoming UK and European racing circuits.
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I you are interested in meeting with and even chipping in with support for Rufus’ motoring career, please do come to the the fundraiser event as per the details below:
📍 Venue: Whistling Moran, Nairobi 📅 Date: Saturday, November 1st, 2025 🕖 Time: 8:00am – 3:00pm 🎯 Purpose: Fundraiser to support Rufus Njeru Holmes’s 2026 racing season
If you want to get to know the team supporting this brilliant young man, or make your support for his career more long-term, here are the contact details of his team in Kenya:
Since my last post on the ongoing leadership crisis at the top of Cricket Kenya, there have been several pronouncements from internal and external stakeholders, each adding layers to the problem at hand in Cricket in Kenya.
Most significant was the decision by the Sports Registrar, Madam Rose Wasike, to straight up cancel the election of a replacement Vice Chair to the Cricket Kenya Executive Board, saying that none of the 24 County delegations were in office legally. Given that this was the only agenda item of the SGM in question, the meeting was wound up having accomplished nothing.
Sports Registrar Madam Rose Wasike (Credit: Capital FM/Raymond Makhaya)
The SGM was convened by the faction of Cricket Kenya backed by a big majority of the current executive board, and recognized by the Ministry of Sports and the ICC. Even as that was going on, their rival faction was creating a media spectacle at the gates of the Ruaraka Sports Club led by “Acting CEO” Walter Trenk Mukinginyi.
Madam Wasike’s resolution brings to focus the elephant in the room, in insisting that the base criteria for recognition as a County delegate is election by a properly constituted County Cricket Association, in line with the Sports Act and the Cricket Kenya Constitution.
Across the 47 Counties of Kenya, the only one that comes close to meeting these criteria is the Nairobi County Cricket Association. To the best of my knowledge, they have refused to be part of the Cricket Kenya Council. Beyond that only Mombasa and Nakuru CCAs are likely to have enough active cricket clubs to establish an electorate from which credible Cricket Council delegates could feasibly be chosen.
Because the current board’s term is up for renewal in early 2026, and the Cricket Kenya Constitution requires that there be delegates elected from County Associations (nearly all of which a briefcase outfits), Cricket Kenya looks like it is on a course to having elections without voters.
This is the ‘gordian knot’ that years of factionalism, corruption, and short sightedness in the Cricketing Community in Kenya has left the game in, and without some radica solutions, will likely doom the sport in Kenya.
The current row at the top of Cricket Kenya feature has brought to the fore old problems that have haunted the game for years
As one faction of Cricket Kenya scrambled to find resources to send the national team to Zimbabwe for World Cup Qualifiers, another was convening a ‘Special General Meeting,‘ where it resolved to remove the remaining board members of the former faction and restated its unequivocal support for the controversial AoS-backed CKT20 League.
Ousted Cricket Kenya chairman Manoj Patel, flanked by ‘interim CEO’ Walter Trenk (left), and various purported members of the Cricket Kenya Council address the media (Source: SportsDesk Kenya)
This is the latest development in a leadership crisis that had been bubbling under since the proposal to launch a pro Twenty20 league ran into headwinds earlier this year, and the board split about how to proceed in light of the ICC declining to clear the league.
The split has since spilt into the open with Mr Manoj Patel, vote of no confidence notwithstanding, purporting to convene the ‘Cricket Kenya Council’ in the name of running out the officials apparently standing in the way of the CKT20 league taking place with or without the ICC’s endorsement. You can get some useful insights on why the board is split on the CKT20 League, from a fiery back and forth between former Kenyan wicket keepers, Tariq Iqbal and Kennedy Obuya, on Radio44 here.
Having said that, the involvement of the ‘Cricket Kenya Council’ in the current row, introduces a dimension akin to the shenanigans which killed the old Kenyan Cricket Association, and if the book ‘Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket‘ is to be believed, the bane of large and small cricket boards the world over: phantom cricketers/teams/associations.
The late Sharad Ghai had a big hand in the rise, and fall, of the Kenya Cricket Association. Source: The Standard
Now, as when the late KCA Chairman Sharad Ghai conjured the phantom Central Province Cricket Association to prop up his chairmanship of KCA, many of the delegates on the ‘Cricket Kenya Supreme Council’ only have the most tenuous connection to actual cricket playing, coaching and administration. Additionally, several of those delegates, who do have a cricketing background, lack a real connection to the Counties they were picked to represent.
This council was initially constituted in the Cricket Kenya elections overseen by a Ministry of Sports Normalization Committee in 2022, with a view to bringing the governance structures of CK in line with the 2013 Sports Act. In the three years since, this writer has not seen much evidence of new cricketing activities in any of the 24 counties represented on the council at that election.
Indeed, it is apparent that since this council elected the Cricket Kenya Executive Board, some of the delegates have inadvertently switched counties, and others have been replaced by even more dubious characters without any documented process. At least per the names on the signed resolutions that they issue
A copy of one of the signed statements that the ‘Cricket Kenya Council’ has issued in the ongoing fight with its own board.
There is supposed to be another SGM, this time convened by the faction of the Cricket Kenya Board led by CEO Robert Bukusi, on October 19th, which will itself have an agenda of filling the vacant (by resignation) Vice Chairman’s slot. The voting is supposed to be done by a council that seemingly is in the pocket of a hostile Chairman and his cronies. Likely, the council members who do respond to this call will be a different group from the section that has stood with Manoj Patel in this row.
The real question now is, given the reality of what Cricket in Kenya looks like, does compliance with the law justify organs that are not (and probably cannot) be constituted to serve the letter and the spirit of the laws which require their existence?
In the early 2000s, in the light of a national men’s team bhang-smoking scandal, Cricket New Zealand ordered a wide-reaching review of all of its practices, leading to the publication of what is called ‘The Hood Report’. Among other things, it brought about the end of elected boards, in favour of professional recruitment, and began the transformation of the cricket national team, in the Rugby-obsessed nation, from being a pitiable afterthought to a highly effective outfit that consistently punches above its weight, making several finals of World Cup and Test Championships.
Other sports governing boards, in and outside of New Zealand, have attempted to replicate this model, to varying degrees of success, with the key success indicator being the ability of boards to operate above petty regional factionalism and manage their sport with a national outlook.
Likely, external stakeholders like the Ministry of Sports or the International Cricket Council might step in to specifically quash the current crisis, or one faction of the board will simply prevail over the other, but in the long run, there needs to be a significant restructuring of governance within Cricket Kenya to put the underlying matters to bed once and for all.
Following a press briefing yesterday, the Cricket Kenya Board released an extensive press statement fleshing out its position on the controversy-ridden AoS partnership and the CKT20 League that was ‘launched’ then cancelled under strange circumstances, and the fallout thereof.
Cracks At Cricket Kenya:
The Cricket Kenya CEO Ronald Bukusi has dismissed claims that he has been placed on compulsory leave by the board
The press statement, signed off by Cricket Kenya CEO Ronald Bukusi and 6 off the nine remaining Cricket Kenya board members (three are out of the country on official business) outlined the history of the board’s relationship with AoS, from the initial agreement signing in April 2025, to the International Cricket Council’s withholding approval of the same as a basis for disowning the ‘launch’ event in which one CK board member and several former internationals, and county level politicians participated.
By and large, the statement paints a picture of AoS being a shady organisation willing to cross all manner of boundaries, and probably laws, pushing through its agenda and had Cricket Kenya board not stepped in to put a stop to their activities, there would have been massive negative repercussions for the Kenyan cricketing community as a whole. Additionally, the statement seeks to assure stakeholders that the board had identified more reputable partners that would be divulged in due course.
Ousted Cricket Kenya Chairman Manoj Patel continues to lend his name to efforts to keep the AoS-CK deal alive (Source: Capital FM)
On the day, the ousted chairperson shot back with a statement claiming that the Cricket Kenya ‘supreme council’s’ own ‘suspension’ of the Cricket Kenya CEO and Development Director still stands and that all is still well with AoS, though that really says more about the likelihood that he may have been personally compromised by AoS than anything else.
With both parties citing the backing of higher authorities (the ICC and the government of Kenya respectively), it remains to be seen how all this will play out when Cricket Kenya convenes to hold an SGM on the 21st of September.
Sport in Kenya 