The seven months of leadership wrangling in Kenyan cricket finally came to an end after the two wrangling factions decided to share positions for the ‘sake’ of the game.
At a meeting held on Tuesday at the Sports Ministry offices, the Interim Committee that has been at the centre of controversy, was disbanded and a four-member committee appointed to run the affairs of CK for the next three months ahead of elections. In a statement, Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa said: “In a bid to unlock the stalemate that’s hindering cricket progress, we’ve found a solution that will see cricket glory restored once again.”
The committee will be headed by Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) chairman, Tom Tikolo while former national team wicket keeper Kennedy Obuya will be the treasurer.
CK vice chairman Palli Sehmi will serve in the same capacity while NPCA treasurer, Rajesh Patel, will be the development director. Following the development, Obuya’s younger brother David Obuya, who was the Interim Committee secretary has been shown the door. Echesa formed the Interim Committee in April after the then CK chairperson Jackie Janmohammed resigned alongside her development director, Raja Sarkar.
A group of former international cricketers led by Obuya brothers, Edward Tito and Tariq Iqbal then managed to convince the CS to take the advantage of Janmohammed’s exit and make changes at CK. Among the changes that the group needed was to tweak the CK constitution. But in less than a month since its formation, the Interim Committee was faced with a lot of challenges, pitting committee members and other cricket stakeholders thus leading to a prolonged stalemate. The latest development is good news for the over 40 CK employees who have gone without pay for three months following the resignation of Ravi Kaul as CK treasurer in September.
Apart from the non-payment of players’ salaries, normal operations at CK’s Ruaraka offices have also stalled with a number of activities including the national team training and development programs failing to take off. The CS confirmed that all players and staff will be paid. The development is also good new for the country as Kenya was starring the International Cricket Council ICC ban.
Ever since its formation by the Echesa in April this year, the interim Committee has been very unpopular at ICC, prompting the international body to send out warning to Kenya to sort out their management or be disbanded. ICC is currently withholding Kenya’s funding after both parties went to court. Echesa said following the development, all the court cases will be withdrawn.
