EXCLUSIVE: FKF boss Nick Mwendwa sheds light on Kenyan coach Engin Firat's salary saga

Speaking after guiding Kenya to a 2-1 victory against Namibia in their matchday two of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers at Orlando Stadium in South Africa on Tuesday, September 10th, the Turkish tactician openly hit out at a section of Kenyans, who are criticising the team instead of giving them support.

Goals from John Avire and Duke Abuya enabled Harambee Stars to pick their first victory in the qualifiers, having started off with a 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe in their opener at the Stade Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda, on Friday, September 6th.

The former Moldovia tactician then further revealed his predicaments of working without being paid for the last nine months and further continued his onslaught on Kenya's football administrators, claiming the country has the worst football conditions.

“What makes me sad is that we have no support, against Uganda I was told we would have 5,000 fans but I could count how many were there. I am also not okay, if you don't pay the coach for nine months even one dollar, then what do you want? I want people to stop criticising the team,” Firat told reporters.

Firat is owed salary by the Ministry of Sports

Flashscore sought to know the reason behind Firat’s salary delay and FKF President Nick Mwendwa squarely put the blame on the government through the Ministry of Sports for “not keeping their word.”

“Yes, it is true, Firat is owed nine months’ salary, that is the situation, the government through the Ministry of Sports is yet to pay him,” Mwendwa told Flashscore.

“We have written many times for several months to the Ministry of Sports trying to find out why they have never paid the coach despite making a commitment in writing to do so when he took charge of the team, but we never get replies, there is no response from the Ministry, and we don’t know what is the problem.”

Asked what will happen if Firat goes ahead and reports FKF to the World governing body FIFA over the matter, Mwendwa said: “It is worrying of course, because if it goes on (the non-payment issue), he may move to sue but we hope before that happens we will have solved the problem.”

This was the second time Firat, who took charge of Harambee Stars on October 7th, 2021 after replacing fired Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee, was voicing his concerns over delayed salaries.

In May, Firat said he will continue to fight for the country despite the problems he was facing. "When I mentioned sacrifices before, what I meant was that it's only a temporary issue, lasting just five months. We face many problems, but we don't publicise our struggles; instead, we fight for the country and choose not to share our problems externally," Firat told the media.

"There are indeed real delays, and that's a fact. However, I don't dwell on them. My focus is on achieving results and bringing joy to the nation.”

The problem of Kenya not paying coaches is not new. In May 2016, FKF found themselves sweating over a Sh245 million legal suit from two of its former coaches - Bobby Williamson and Adel Amrouche.

Williamson, who handled Harambee Stars for 16 months, was seeking compensation of Ksh105million for unlawful dismissal while Belgian Amrouche was demanding Ksh130 million as compensation, an amount equivalent to the remainder of his five-year contract which was to run until 2019 but he was fired in August 2014.

In 2020, Frenchman Sebastien Migne threatened to report FKF to FIFA over unpaid dues. Migne, who led Kenya to the 2019 AFCON in Egypt after a 15-year wait where they failed to go past the group stage, was fired following Harambee Stars' elimination from the 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN).

Kenya to play Cameroon AFCON tie in Uganda

After hosting Zimbabwe in Uganda for their Group J opener, Kenyans had high hopes that their next home match against the Indomitable Lions will be played in Nairobi.

Kenya and Cameroon will face off in a double-legged tie of the qualifiers. Cameroon will host the first meeting on October 7th, before the two sides face off again on October 15th, with Kenya being the host nation.

Mwendwa has confirmed the matchday four fixture will be played in Uganda, at the same venue, Mandela Stadium, where Harambee Stars held the Warriors to a 0-0 draw.

“Our home game against Cameroon will be played in Uganda, we still don’t have an approved venue to host our matches,” Mwendwa told Flashscore. “Nyayo will be closed for the next four months (for renovation work), it means even the home game against Namibia, we may not play in Kenya.”

Cameroon played at Mandela Stadium during their matchday two fixture against Zimbabwe which ended in a 0-0 draw on Tuesday, September 10th.

Already, coach Firat has warned Cameroon to anticipate a tough game against the East African side. “Do you think Kenya is an easy team? Cameroon should think about how they want to crack Kenya, we are not afraid of Cameroon, you saw the boys, how they played before against Ivory Coast, against Russia, against Qatar,” said Firat.

The last time Kenya played against Cameroon was in 2010 during a friendly at Kasarani Stadium which the Indomitable Lions won 3-1 courtesy of goals from Paul Webo, Achille Emana Edzimbi and Mohammadou Idrissou. Kenya’s lone goal came through defender James Situma.

As it stands, Kenya are topping Group J with four points, the same number as second-placed Cameroon, Zimbabwe are third on two while Namibia stay last without a single point.