Badminton Kenya risk being suspended after failing to conduct fair and transparent elections as per Badminton World Federation (BWF) requirements.
The elections were earlier planned for June last year but were shelved by the Sports Registrar as the national body had not complied with the Sports Act.
The two warring factions curtailed the smooth running of the office hence made matters even worse. The national federation were given a chance to hold the elections on April 27 by Badminton World Federation (BWF) and the National Olympic Committee of Kenya but once again failed.
One of the two factions led by federation’s acting chairman, Peter Muchiri went ahead to hold Annual General Meeting that resulted in the election by acclamation of eight individual in absence of actual voting with very low turnout.
BWF can not recognise the faction's leadership as they have discovered that the elections were not inclusive of all the relevant stakeholders. The other faction led by Geoffrey Shigoli’s group is yet to conduct elections and is currently not properly registered. BWF have revealed that the group fall short of the leadership requirements.
In a letter addressed to Muchiri and Shigoli, the BWF expressed their disappointment with the Kenyan badminton fraternity. The two parties now find themselves at the mercy of the tribunal after failing to agree.
The letter read in part: “ From the outset, we have to note it is through this letter, we do not wish to assign responsibility to either of the parties specifically. We find that the behaviour of both parties led to the present situation – and that it is inescapable that the parties will have to work together to move forward.”
“In view of the above, the BWF is unable to take sides in this dispute. While our recognition, for the time being, remains with Shigoli’s group, we are actively considering the possibility suspending Badminton Kenya from our membership until such time that elections are conducted according to BWF requirements – in a way that allows all stakeholders of Kenyan badminton to participate in fair and transparent elections.”
However, the world body remained keen to work together with the parties on a binding roadmap for future inclusive elections and any initiative from the parties to resolve this impasse will be considered.
