Kenya’s ex-football chief Mwendwa to face fresh charges

Kenya’s former football chief Nick Mwendwa will appear in court next week to face fresh charges of misappropriating 38 million shillings ($337,000), prosecutors said on Thursday.

Mwendwa, 43, was re-arrested on Thursday only a day after a court dismissed all corruption charges against him, saying the state had failed to provide any evidence.

But prosecutors said fresh evidence had now been made available to police.

“The prosecution has since reviewed the additional evidence, and applied for summons against… Mwendwa,” senior assistant director of public prosecutions Joseph Riungu said in a statement.

Mwendwa is expected to plea on July 11, he added.

“The ODPP (Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions) is cognisant that this is a matter of great public interest and is keen to ensure that the case is prosecuted in adherence with the law and justice is served.”

Mwendwa was first arrested in November after the Kenyan government disbanded the FKF and set up a caretaker committee to run football over the alleged financial impropriety during his tenure.

Following his ouster and the disbanding of the FKF, Kenya were suspended by football’s world governing body FIFA in February over government interference in the running of the sport.

Kenya were excluded from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers which kicked off in June, and cannot host or play in any international matches under the FIFA ban.