Nick Mwendwa arrested

Embattled Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa. [File, Standard]

Nick Mwendwa has been arrested and taken to the DCI headquarters on Kiambu Road, the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) communications officer Ken Okaka has confirmed.

Okaka said Mwendwa was arrested at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Westlands, Nairobi, where he was meeting Harambee Stars players ahead of the Kenya-Rwanda World Cup qualifier match on Monday, November 15.

Okaka said reasons for Mwendwa’s arrest were not immediately given.

Reached for comment, Mwendwa told The Standard that he was “safe though under arrest”.

National Police Service spokesperson Bruno Shioso told The Standard that Mwendwa was arrested over “[alleged] improprieties at the FKF”.

The FKF boss’s arrest comes barely a day after he vowed to stay put at the federation despite its take-over by a caretaker committee amid probe into alleged misappropriation of FKF funds.

The federation has, since 2019, received Sh430 million from the Kenyan Government, with the usage of the funds now under investigation.

The 15-member FKF caretaker committee, led by retired judge Aaron Ringera, will be in operation for six months, starting November 11, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said on Thursday, November 11.

On Friday, the committee suspended top-tier football in the country for two weeks as investigations into FKF’s finances continue.