Sports CS Ababu Namwamba has outlined what the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) needs to do to have Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat start to receive his monthly salary from the government.

The 53-year-old Turkish tactician, who took up the role of handling the team three years ago, confirmed a week ago he had gone for nine months without salary. Speaking after Kenya lost 1-0 against South Sudan in a friendly at Kasarani Stadium, Firat said he was working without pay and that it had become difficult to explain to his family why he was keeping a job that did not pay him.

However, Namwamba has come out to state the reason why Firat is yet to get payments from the government blaming FKF for their delay in furnishing them with the coach’s signed contract for perusal before “we can start making the payments.”

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“When the coach was handed a contract with FKF three years ago, the government was not involved in the process of hiring the coach, and at the same time the government was not given his contract (after the deal was signed) for perusal, I have said previously that when we came to office, we requested FKF to furnish us with the contract so as to understand what terms he was hired for because when you get a job there are terms and conditions,” Namwamba told a local TV station.

He added: “I have met with the coach and I told him and FKF that immediately we get furnished with his contract and get to know what it entails, then without fail the government will do its part by paying the coach. We need to see the contract, we can’t do payments without the coach’s contract, the government has its own rules when it comes to payments, so let FKF give us the contract, and we send it to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), who will look at it and if approved then the coach will start to get his salary.”

On Kenya’s humiliating defeat against South Sudan, Namwamba said: “It is better to lose in a friendly so that you can rectify mistakes and get ready and get ready for the most important qualifiers that we are playing in the future, the games in Qatar and against South Sudan was just friendly matches, and the main task is when we play in the world cup qualifier, this was just a friendly.”

Meanwhile, Namwamba confirmed he has reached out to the world governing body FIFA over FKF’s coming elections which he insisted should be held by February 2024.

“We are having the FKF elections due next year in February,” he said, adding: “Let us prepare to have free fair elections, I have told FIFA that the government of Kenya wants to walk with you as the governing body so that we can manage the process effectively. We are to have elections that are in sync with Kenyan law and with FIFA statutes so that FIFA is satisfied, the government is satisfied and the federation is stable.”