Kenya batsman Lucas Ndandason celebrates a wicket against Papua New Guinea during their ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League 'A' match at Nairobi Gymkhana on October 5, 2024.
Cricket Kenya (CK) plans to appeal a decision by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to declare it non-compliant with the membership criteria of the world cricket governing body.
On March 12, ICC halted funding CK for six months and warned that Kenya’s membership to the global governing body could be suspended or terminated should the federation fail to address areas of non-compliance by Saturday.
It is the latest setback to Kenyan cricket, which has faced leadership wrangles and mismanagement by CK officials. From a high of reaching the semi-finals of the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup in the longer version of the game, Kenya’s cricket has witnessed a steady decline on the field due to leadership wrangles and mismanagement of the federation.
Kenya has played in the ICC World Cup five times, four of those in the One Day International (ODI) - 1996, 1999, 2003, and 2011 - and once in T20 (2007). Kenya is no longer a powerhouse in the sport and has been overtaken by Uganda in the region.
Countries suspended by the ICC or whose membership is terminated cannot compete in tournaments sanctioned by the global governing body, nor get funding from it. They also lose the voting and governance rights at ICC, and their players are ineligible to compete in ICC events.
Kenya cricket women's team pose for photo before facing Bangladesh on January 19, 2022 in their Women’s Twenty20 Commonwealth Games Qualifiers at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
On Thursday, March 12, ICC General Manager for Development, William Glenwright, wrote to CK Chief Executive Officer Ronald Bukusi, informing him of the drastic decision taken by the global governing body to declare Kenya non-compliant, leading to the suspension of funding.
In the letter copied to several ICC officials and Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya, the global body says that a review of Kenya’s compliance with its membership criteria last year established that the federation’s governance system was not just deficient, but also non-compliant with the 2021 CK Constitution.
The ICC cited several reasons for its decision, including repeated late submission of CK’s audited financial statements, division within the CK board, the interference in the day-to-day management of the federation by board members, the expiry of the mandates of County Cricket Associations (CCA), and the freezing of the federation’s bank account last year.
“By way of this letter, and further to the notification on December 1, 2025, Cricket Kenya is hereby formally notified that it is also now non-compliant with Articles 2.2(b) (i) and 2.2(b) (ii) of the Membership Criteria. As such, its ICC funding is being withheld with immediate effect for a period of 6 months from the date of this letter,” read part of the letter Glenwright wrote to Bukusi.
“…A failure by Cricket Kenya to resolve its areas of non-compliance by March 21, 2026, will therefore place Cricket Kenya at risk of having its membership of the ICC suspended and/or terminated by the Board with immediate effect,” it added.
However, Bukusi insists that most of the complaints raised by ICC have been addressed by the federation thus their decision to lodge an appeal.
“We will appeal the position taken by ICC and show them that the things they are alluding to have been addressed,” Bukusi said yesterday. He added that the only remaining matter is the CK national elections, which are scheduled for April 19.
Cricket Kenya Chief Executive Officer Ronald Bukusi.
Bukusi explained that CCA had conducted their elections and that the CK had submitted to ICC the regulations covering anti-corruptions, anti-doping and ethics.
For his part, Jaxon Indakwa, the Director of Sports, who was also copied in the letter from ICC, said the matter will be escalated to CS Mvurya and PS Elijah Mwangi, given the strict time lines set by ICC for addressing the issues.
“The main problem is the governance, which has not been resolved. We will get back to the bosses (Mvurya and Mwangi) and seek guidance given the action taken by ICC and time lines they have given,” Indakwa stated. According to ICC, CK has repeatedly breached its funding policy by not filing its annual financial statements on time.
For instance, in 2024, the federation filed its annual financial statements on December 31, 2025, way past the June 30, 2025, deadline. Kenya has been under ICC controlled funding programme since June 2023 due to CK’s failure to streamline its governance structure.
Under the controlled funding programme, ICC only releases funds to the affected member associations on a quarterly basis. The member associations are then required to strictly adhere to budgets approved by the world cricket governing body when utilising the funds.
In the first quarter of 2023, Kenya received $409,000 (equivalent to Sh52,761,000 as per the current exchange rate). While CK was expected to operate under the controlled funding for just one year, delays in streamlining its governance structures and persistent leadership wrangles have seen the programme remain in place to this day.
In the six months that Kenya will not get ICC funding, CK are required to resolve the non-compliant issues before the funding resumes. If the issues are not addressed during that time, Kenya will forfeit the withheld funds.
Since August last year, CK board has been split into two factions, each claiming authority to run the federation.
The rift pits seven of the board members - Bukusi, Pearlyne Omamo (Director Women’s Cricket), Thomas Odoyo (Development Director) and members Tariq Iqbal, Mary Maina, Beryl Oyugi, and Pauline Njeru - on one side, and CK outgoing chairman Manoj Patel and County Associations Representative Kennedy Obuya on the other.
Former Kenya opening batsman and wicket-keeper Kennedy Obuya. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO | FILE
The division resulted from a falling out over Sh255 million five-year deal that CK signed with a Dubai-based sports promotion company AOS Sports Tournament, in April last year.
In the agreement, Kenya was to host a high-profile Twenty 20 League late last year, with selected players from Test-playing nations taking part. Trouble started when Manoj and Obuya insisted on the tournament proceeding as planned, while the other seven members opposed on the grounds that it had not been approved by the ICC. The tournament did not take place.
In October last year, officials from both the Ministry of Sport and ICC, led by Glenwright, met the feuding CK board members but were unable to resolve the differences.
“The Board is split into two parallel factions, with each claiming the rightful authority to run matters of CK, resulting in dysfunction and an inability for the Board to make any decisions,” said ICC in the letter it sent to Bukusi on Thursday last week.
The global governing body added that some of the board members were interfering with the running of the federations, including in relation to dealings with external partners. This role sits squarely within the competence of the Cricket Kenya executive and administration, not the Board.”
Due to the sharp divisions within the board, the majority of members late last year passed a vote of no confidence against Obuya, who was also serving as interim treasurer. Earlier in June last year, the CK board members, including Obuya, had unanimously passed a vote of no confidence against Manoj over corruption allegations and other irregularities.
The wrangles were so serious that in September last year, CK’s account at a local bank was frozen. The inconvenience saw the Kenya men's national cricket team grapple with lack of funds for their 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe. It took the intervention of two well-wishers for the team to travel to the tournament.
Kenya has previously been at loggerheads with the ICC over non-compliance with the membership criteria. In 2005, ICC halted funding CK (then Kenya Cricket Association) for seven months over allegations of misappropriation of funds. In 2018, ICC issued a suspension notice to Kenya following glaring governance lapses within CK and non-compliance with ICC Membership Criteria.
Amina Mohammed, who was the Sports minister at the time, met ICC officials to resolve the issue, and Kenya got a six-month grace period. However, the disagreements ended in court, attracting another suspension in 2020. Year-long stakeholder engagement facilitated by the government birthed the 2021 CK Constitution, and elections were held the following year in February. ICC resumed funding for Kenya in June 2023, but under a controlled funding programme.
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