Embattled FKF CEO spills the beans on disastrous presentations of national under-15 teams
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Reading Time: 4min | Thu. 29.01.26. | 18:31
In an email obtained by Mozzart Sport, Ndege, who is fighting his removal from office, reveals who is to blame
Besieged Football Kenya Federation (FKF) CEO Harold Ndege has lifted the lid on what allegedly transpired before the disastrous preparations and subsequent underperformance of the national under-15 team at last year’s CAF African Schools Football Championship CECAFA qualifiers held in Uganda.
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In an email obtained by Mozzart Sport, Ndege, who is fighting his removal from office, lays the blame squarely on the Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS), the Ministry of Sports and FKF officials, while absolving himself from blame over the fiasco.
Interestingly, an FKF executive co-opted member's (name withheld) role in the federation also seems to be much more than just that, as he seems to wield much more power than was previously thought, according to the email.
Ndege’s email is in reply to one written to him by the executive co-opted member, but ideally, this matter, he claims, should have been addressed by the FKF Vice President, MacDonald Mariga, who chairs the Youth Committee.
The FKF CEO begins by pointing out that the preparations for both the girls and boys under-15 teams to take part in the Uganda tournament had been initiated in good time, but were heavily dependent on external partners and financial commitments.
“Upon receiving early communication on the competition in October 2025, FKF engaged the Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS) to support resource mobilisation after it became clear that some critical requirements were not fully met.
KAS completed nationwide school-based selections and submitted initial player data as agreed,” says Ndege.
He goes on to indicate that the proposed scouting budget for the second phase of talent identification was not approved by the Ministry of Sports due to a lack of funds.
“It is important to note that the FKF did not have funds to carry out this second phase at the time.”
Ndege goes on to indicate in his email that after the situation became dire, he informed the executive co-opted member that the team should not travel due to lack of funds and preparations, but was informed that travel was mandatory, and the FKF co-opted member revealed he would personally fund the trip. He insists the last-minute approval caused operational delays.
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“This was further compounded by delays at the border, which were beyond our control. This, coupled with heavy traffic on the road, caused the team to arrive in Uganda two hours before kick-off,” adds the email.
In the email, Ndege also addressed delayed coaching staff appointments and player selection.
“I was surprised to see communication in the African Schools Football Competition WhatsApp group requesting the final U15 Boys' and Girls' squads and also inquiring about whether any training had been conducted prior to departure and who the coaches were,” he continues.
“At that point, I had no knowledge of any ongoing preparations for the U15 teams. Upon seeing this communication, I immediately contacted the Officer in Charge of the Schools to understand what was happening.
"I was informed that the team had already been assembled and would be ready to depart the following day, all of which had been done without my involvement.”
He claims that the decision to have the team travel was contrary to an earlier discussion held between himself, the Football Development Director and the Officer in charge of the Schools.
“During that discussion. We collectively agreed that, after weighing the pros and cons of honouring the invitation, the cons outweighed the pros. We therefore made a deliberate decision that the team should not participate.
“A few minutes after that decision was made, I received a call from you (executive co-opted member) directing that we must honour the invitation or risk a ban, though this had not been communicated to me or any other person in charge of the team.”
“In this context. You overruled our earlier decision and made it clear that the team had to participate. I subsequently wrote an email to the officer in charge of the team informing him that, since he had agreed to take over the process, he would assume full responsibility. He responded to my email confirming that he would indeed take full responsibility.”
Ndege goes on to clarify that the team’s technical bench was selected by Alex Alumirah and is not aware under whose direction he was operating, as no key persons, including the Development Director or the Youth Chairman, were consulted.
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