Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has addressed the issues surrounding the election within Athletics Kenya (AK).
Speaking on Thursday, March 28, the Deputy President promised to collaborate with the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts Ababu Namwamba, to sort out the issues derailing the organisation.
“I will discuss with CS Namwamba so that we can wait for the Olympics to finish, then we can sort it out.”
The second in command noted that despite the confusion within the AK, the government was going to wait for the Olympic preparations to be complete before tackling the election of the top leaders.
“I agree the election issues in Athletics Kenya is a phoney issue, and we are going to sort it out,” Gachagua promised.
“We do not want to destabilise the Olympic preparations.”
On March 7, the High Court ordered the Athletics Kenya officials serving for more than a specific period to vacate the offices.
Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei was among those ordered to leave their jobs, alongside other officials working within his office. The president had been in office for eight years.
“An order be and is hereby issued that by referring to Sections 46 and 49 of the Sports Act and the Second Schedule thereof, the officials and Executive Committee of the 1st respondent who has been in office for a cumulative period of 8 years since the coming into force of the Sports Act have served their terms in full and must forthwith vacate office," the ruling read.
In light of the petition filed by athlete Moses Tanui alongside 9 other individuals, the court ruled that the officials would be ineligible to vie for any other office within the organisation.
The petitioners had further requested that the officials be declared illegally in office. The ten-member team further claimed that the AK's constitution was null and void.
“An order be and is hereby issued directing the 1st respondent to carry out further review of its Constitution adopted and/or ratified on 27th April 2016 within the next 90 days of making this order to consider public views gathered during its last review for purposes of enhancing inclusivity and democratic representation of various players in the athletics discipline," the Judge ordered.
