Kenya Swimming Federation elections to be held by June

Francis Mutuku, a member of the three-man stabilization committee that has been running swimming in the country says they are working round the clock to ensure new elections are held by June.

Mutuku who is also the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) said they are done with majority of the things they were supposed to do and all that remains is to hold elections.

“We are almost finished. We are waiting for counties and clubs to be registered with the registrar of societies. A lot of them have already submitted the necessary documents. We do not intend to stay beyond June and that should be deadline to hold fresh elections,” he said.

The NOCK official revealed that they were ready to hold elections by December as that was the deadline they had.

“Everything was ready but we did not have the necessary legal instruments required to go on with the process.”

Mutuku regretted that the stand-off in the Kenya Swimming Federation (KSF) has led to a lot of negative consequences for players and officials.

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“It is not a pleasant situation at all. The swimmers are missing out and are not allowed to compete under the Kenyan flag. Also, grants that could help build the game have been stopped. Technical officials cannot attend necessary trainings and it is really a difficult moment. I urge all those involved to avoid being selfish and work with us to ensure we harmonise everything on time.”

The three-man stabilization committee was appointed in July last year by world swimming body FINA.

Apart from Mutuku, other members of the committee are South African Jace Naidoo and Moses Benon Mwase from Uganda.

Kenya was suspended by FINA in January last year owing to incessant wrangles and court cases. Furthermore, the federations elections had been postponed twice in two years, prompting Fina to suspend KSF in January, 2021 until a new office is in place.