Little noise around basketball polls a real wonder in Kenyan sports

It’s amazing, perhaps even odd, how Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF), which goes to the polls today to elect new officials, managed to keep the noise levels down in the run up to such a momentous exercise.

How did they even pull it off?

The only give away was retired basketball star-turned sports marketer Cynthia Mumbo’s announcement early this week on social media that she will be contesting the federation’s presidency.

But even that announcement by the high-achieving founder and CEO of sports consultancy firm, Sports Connect Africa, came a bit late in the day. Five days to the polls, to be precise.

The other candidates, including the incumbent and long-serving chairman, Paul Otula, have been eerily silent. Extremely quiet in a very loud way. It’s a wonder if at all the prospective candidates have even been campaigning.

This is very strange in a country where elective processes – in whichever institution you think of – almost always turn ugly, if not violent.

Outside the cut-throat environment of our national politics, public universities hold the dubious distinction for being among institutions that are infamous for recurrent and almost predictable electioneering upheavals. Not far behind in this roll of dishonour are sports clubs and federations.

In fact, for some sports entities in Kenya, electing officials often comes down to who has the means of assembling a small militia and wetting their parched throats with the most potent of illicit brews. Worthy of special mention here is Football Kenya Federation (FKF), which over the years has mutated and changed form and name innumerable times.

For scholars, the federation’s notoriety for bungling elections could as well provide rich research material for a study on “how to mismanage elections”.

Just have a close look at how the last elections, which put Nick Mwendwa back at the helm of the federation were conducted. It was an ugly and dirty affair.

Mwendwa and his acolytes did a great job in keeping with the federation’s tradition of making a mockery of elections by usurping power through flawed processes.

Other sports federations and associations have not fared any better. Volleyball, cricket, boxing and taekwondo went to the dogs a long time ago. In these bodies, those with means have perfected the art of conducting sham elections with no iota of credibility. Which explains the low depths which these once vibrant sports have fallen in recent years.

The less covered “small” sporting disciplines have their own issues too. Their only saving grace is that nobody bothers to scratch beneath the surface.

Now, back to KBF elections. Could it be that KBF have a different modus operandi from their peers who thrive in chaos and lawlessness? I’m not too sure about that, but the non-combative manner in which they have so far conducted their electioneering process bodes well for the federation, especially at a time when the standards of the sport in the country are on an upward curve.

There is also the interesting narrative of Mumbo’s candidature. While her credentials as a former player and an accomplished sports marketer are impeccable, Mumbo deserves the plaudits – whichever way the elections will go – for her courage in venturing into uncharted territory. If she wins, she will have broken the glass ceiling for female sports administrators in the country.

That said, may the best man/woman win – fair and square.

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