Appearing before the Sports Parliamentary Committee, chaired by Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama on Thursday, both factions, Team New Dawn led by NOCK First Vice President Shadrack Maluki and the Service Team fronted by Secretary General Francis Mutuku, were told to clear legal roadblocks hindering the electoral process. The NOCK elections have so far been shelved on two previous occasions.
During the planned April 24 elections, disputes within four federations over who held the voting mandate forced the elections to be called off.
At the postponed June 19 elections, a temporary injunction was issued suspending the polls pending the outcome of a petition challenging the eligibility of certain candidates. The committee advised NOCK to ensure all legal roadblocks are cleared for the institution to conduct its election in the next two weeks.
"You are hereby directed to withdraw all the pending court cases and hold the elections as soon as possible," Wanyama said.
The committee further advised that the original list presented to the Sports registrar to be the one used. "Let everyone on the sports registrar's list take part in the polls without any prejudice," Wanyama directed. He called on the rival factions not to hold the nation's sportsmen and women hostage with the continued election delays. "Don't hold our athletes hostage, put Kenya first. Your back and forth is messing up with our sportsmen and women."
Mutuku told the committee that both factions will agree in principle to drop the court cases by Monday. "Based on the advice the committee has given, the first thing will be to withdraw all pending court cases. The matters in the High Court and the Bomet Court can be withdrawn, and we will give ourselves a timeline of up to Monday. After that then the President can advise on a suitable election date," he said.
Tergat expressed his frustration with the prolonged impasse, warning that the leadership wrangles were overshadowing the committee’s achievements over the past eight years. "I want to hand over power smoothly, and with the guidance from this committee, we will be able to have the elections as soon as possible."
"The delays risk tarnishing our nation's reputation. We have worked hard for the last eight years to bring up the infrastructure and governance of this institution," Tergat said.
