Kenya staring at a total ban from international swimming
Nadia Vusha of Gulab Lochab Academy competes in the Butterfly Girls 25m (10-11 years) Heat 2cateogry during the Inter Schools Swimming Gala held at Rupa’z Fun N Fitness Centre swimming pool in Eldoret on March 25, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Scheduled national elections as preferred by WA has been stopped by the High Court
- World Aquatics boss Nowicki unhappy with Kenyan situation, warns of dire consequences for the country if July 8 elections are not held
World Aquatics is certain to ban Kenya if the Kenya Swimming Federation (KSF) fails to hold scheduled elections on July 8.
Tired with the musical chairs from KSF, World Aquatics (WA) Executive Director Brent Nowicki has warned that they will strike out Kenya from all swimming activities sanctioned by the global body.
Kenya is currently under provisional suspension and cannot participate in any international event. However Kenyan swimmers can compete individually as neutral athletes while Kenyan swimming officials can also be appointed to officiate in WA sanctioned events.
In a letter dated June 20, this year, to the chairman of the Stabilisation Committee of the KSF, South Africa’s Jace Naidoo, Nowicki said it was unfortunate that the Kenyan court hads stopped the elections.
In reaction, the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) president Paul Tergat has written to the Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba urging him to intervene lest Kenya becomes a pariah in the international swimming family.
Meanwhile Sports Registrar Rose Wasike has stated that World Aquatics and the Stabilisation Committee have no mandate to issue an election notice to her office.
Wasike, wrote to the Stabilisation Committee on June 21, stating that World Aquatics erred in forming the Stabilisation Committee without the involvement of the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Secretary for Sports.
Kenya swimmers have been participating in events under “Suspended Member Nation” after WA then FINA first suspended KSF in December 2019 because of incessant wrangles and court cases.
WA then disbanded KSF in July, last year after the federation failed to meet several deadlines for elections, and constituted the Stabilisation Committee.
“Against this background, the World Aquatics Bureau is considering imposing additional sanctions to the Kenya Swimming Federation, which may consist, in accordance with Articles 8.3 lit. a), b), d), e) and/or f) of the World Aquatics Constitution, (i) a further suspension of the Kenya Swimming Federation, but with additional consequences to be defined, notably to exclude Athletes, Athlete Support Personnel and/or Officials from any World Aquatics competitions and events or any World Aquatics activities or positions or bodies; or (ii) an exclusion of the Kenya Swimming Federation,” said Nowicki.
Margaret Ndung’u Mwasha and Conrad Dermot Biltcliffe Thorpe through their lawyer, Charles Kanjama, stopped the elections until a case they still have at the High Court is determined.
In an injunction issued on June 14, Mwasha and Thorpe, want the June 5, 2023 notice calling for KSF extra ordinary general meeting on June 24 followed by the elections on July 8 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, halted.
KSF extraordinary general meeting took place last Saturday in Nairobi.
Mwasha and Biltcliffe argue that the notice for the meeting and elections disregarded the issue awaiting determination by the High Court.
Mwasha and Thorpe had on March 19, 2021 taken KSF, Sports Kenya, Sports Registrar and Attorney General to court, accusing them of violating the constitution.
“We have been informed that the Stabilisation Committee of the Kenya Swimming Federation has received a cease and desist notice requesting that it renounce the holding of the two general assemblies scheduled on 24 June 2023 and 8 July 2023, the latter being an elective general assembly and supposedly the end of a long-standing, flawed situation within Kenya,” said the WA letter.
In this respect, Nowicki said that they recall that a prior FINA Bureau suspended the KSF on December 12, 2019. “More than three years later, and despite the assistance of this Stabilisation Committee for almost one year, the situation is still not resolved,” said Nowicki.
The WA boss noted that while they appreciated the progress and the extensive engagements conducted with the Kenyan Stakeholders which should have culminated in the two aforementioned general assemblies, the attempts by the petitioners will disrupt the roadmap to normalcy.
“These attempts are likely to prevent, once again, the national federation’s situation from being brought into conformity,” said Nowicki, who termed the move unacceptable.
“Therefore, any assistance and help from World Aquatics for the necessary reforms have been resisted, showing no interest or willingness to act in accordance with the World Aquatics Constitution or the principles enshrined in such Constitution,” said Nowicki.
After suspending KSF in July, WA appointed a three-member Stabilisation Committee headed by Naidoo to run the sport in the country.
Also in the committee are NOC-K secretary general, Francis Mutuku and Moses Benon Mwase from Uganda, had six months prepare fresh KSF elections.
With the court case holding up the election, WA may hove not choice but to completely ban Kenya.
