Wanjiru keen to exploit East Africa's tennis potential as she assumes office

Tennis Kenya Secretary General (SG) Wanjiru Mbugua Karani was on Friday 28 October elected the new Vice President of the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) in an elective Annual General Meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Wanjiru garnered 6 votes against Comoros' Mahamoud Zayya 5 votes in the second round of voting. The first round of voting was level at 5 votes each with one spoilt vote.

Her election made her the first woman in history to hold the position in the East African region and is by extension the East African president, taking over from compatriot Patrick Gichira who was not seeking re-election after 12 years at the helm.

The ITF Level II certified coach and Junior Tennis Initiative coordinator says her vision for Zone IV is to foster collaboration, inspiration, and purpose and draw on collective strengths to nurture East African players capable of excelling on professional tours regardless of their country of origin.

“I am excited for this feat, becoming the first woman president of the zone and the second one in Africa. I promise to do my best. I see the potential within us, and I am very eager to sit down with all the countries to find out the challenges they are facing and how we are going to help,” the Team Kenya Chief Executive Officer to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Wanjiru, said.

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Zone Five is made up of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Randa, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Comoros, Somalia, and Sudan.

Benin’s Jean Claude Talon, meanwhile, was elected the new CAT president with 25 votes against Nelson Amanze of Botswana who managed 12 votes. The result also had to go through a second round of voting with the first one failing to meet the three-quarter of votes threshold.