Dark side of National Olympics Committee of Kenya elections
National Olympics Committee of Kenya President Paul Tergat (centre) with Secretary General Francis Mutuku (left) and Vice President Shadrack Maluki during their Annual General Meeting in Nairobi on December 10, 2024.
What you need to know:
- The NOC-K Congress will take place on April 24 in Nairobi, during which the Kenyan Olympics body will elect new office holders.
- Some of the federations which will participate in the elections have been hit by wrangling among officials as to who holds the federation’s vote.
Desire for control of revenue running into millions of shillings at National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has made the planned elections a cut-throat affair, with some candidates resorting to dirty tricks to gain advantage.
The NOC-K Congress will take place on April 24 in Nairobi, during which the Kenyan Olympics body will elect new office holders.
But two weeks before the elections, there are ominous signs that the planned election could see heads of NOC-K’s member federations clash with their secretaries general, and it has to do with the conduct of some of the contestants, and lack of clear guideline on who carries the vote from the member federations.
NOC-K has 28 affiliates, but three – Kenya Swimming Federation, Badminton Kenya, and Kenya Golf Union - are engaged in incessant wrangling, and as such, will not vote in the April 24 elections.
In addition, holders of the the following ‘Special Categories’ will vote in the elections; two IOC members from Kenya (outgoing NOC-K President Paul Tergat and Humphrey Kayange), two Athlete Representatives (Hellen Obiri and Athlete Representative Humphrey Khayange), and one Women Representative (Purvi Rawal). They hold special voting rights in NOC-K elections.
Some of the federations which will participate in NOC-K elections have been hit by wrangling among officials as to who holds the federation’s vote, and internal differences on procedure for nominating candidates to run in NOC-K elections.
As per election rules, each of the 25 member federations are required to sign release letters to candidates vieing in the elections. This is because to be eligible to compete in NOC-K elections, one must be nominated by his or her own federation, and be seconded by a voting delegate of a member federation/association in line with Part 2.2 of 2025 NOC-K Election Rules and Regulations on Delegates (Section 17.3).
But for the first time in NOC-K’s 69-year history, a debate has arisen as to who between the federation’s president and the secretary general should vote in NOC-K elections.
Heads of federations, specifically chairmen and presidents, normally carry the vote, but that has been sharply contested heading to this year’s elections owing to rifts instigated by candidates in NOC-K elections.
According to Section 17.3 Part 2.2 of 2025 NOC-K Election Rules and Regulations, a contestant must be nominated by his or her own federation, and be seconded by a voting delegate of a member federation/association so as to be eligible to compete in NOC-K elections.
Section 13.1, Section 14.6, and Section 17.12 indicate that each federation/association shall be represented by two delegates in NOC-K elections, one of whom must be either the President or Secretary General and who shall hold the voting right for the federation/association.
According to the rules for this year’s elections, nominating federations were to submit names of candidates to NOC-K Secretary General by 5pm on or before April 10, 2025 , at least fourteen (14) days before Congress.
Because NOC-K’s current secretary general Francis Mutuku is vieing for the body’s presidency, names of candidates were forwarded to the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission (IEBC) which will conduct the elections.
The NOC-K Election Rules and Regulations state that the official letter of appointment of delegates must be signed by the federation’s President and Secretary General, clearly designating the delegate with voting rights along with an extract of the minutes containing resolutions to that effect.
But Section 17.4 of NOC-K Constitution states that nominations made by any voting member federation will be valid only if signed by the president and/or the secretary general of the voting member federation.
With both the NOC-K Constitution and 2025 NOC-K Election Rule and Regulations not specifying who should carry the vote between the president or secretary, the feuding officials in federations have presented their own sets of names.
It's now left for the IEBC and NOC-K Electoral Congress to decide who between the president and secretaries- general from the affected federations will get to vote.
The affected federations are Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF), Kenya Taekwondo Federation (KTF), and Triathlon Kenya.
Coincidentally, KRU chairman Sasha Mutai, KVF president Charles Nyaberi, KTF chairman Suleiman Sumba and Triathlon Kenya president Joycelene Nyambura are either vying for a position or supporting Shadrack Maluki’s candidature as NOC-K president.
Mutai, who is not seeing eye to eye with KRU Board members led by the union’s secretary general Ray Olendo, is seeking the post of committee member in the NOC-K elections.
Olendo has thrown his weight behind Kayange (currently NOC-K Athletes Representative), who is vying for the post of deputy secretary general in the elections, but in NOC-K Secretary General Francis Mutuku’s camp.
Mutuku will take on Maluki for the NOC-K presidency.
Mutai has exercised his powers according to Section 10.14 of KRU’s Constitution to nominate himself as well as take the voting rights, but Olendo, who has the blessings of KRU board to nominate Kayange, has insisted he carries the federation’s vote.
Kayange, who is also an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, is eligible to vote at the NOC-K election either as Athletes Representative, or IOC member.
Olendo and KRU board suspended Mutai on March 6 ahead of the union’s AGM on March 24, but Mutai successfully overturned that decision at the Sports Dispute Tribunal (SDT).
Mediation process presided over by former SDT chairman John Ohaga did not succeed.
At KVF, Nyaberi, who has endorsed the federation’s gender committee chairperson Lilian Mududa Waweru to vie for the post of Women’s Representative at KRU, is at loggerheads with other executive members.
In July, last year, nine out of 15 KVF National Executive Committee (NEC) members called for Nyaberi to step aside pending disciplinary action.
“It’s quite strange that a federation chairman now wants to be pitted against his secretary when it comes to voting at NOC-K Electoral Congress,” said Nyaberi. “Let us not water down a good established practice with some divide and rule methods.”
In KTF, Sumba, who is vying in NOC-K elections as a committee member in Maluki’s camp, is not seeing eye to eye with his secretary general George Wesonga, who is in Mutuku’s camp.
“This scenario is unacceptable. Wesonga refused to agree on who would vote on behalf of KTF on NOC-K elections, and the board gave me the powers to vote,” said Sumba.
In triathlon, Nyambura has fallen out with her executive, led by secretary general Salonik Ole Koyiet, after reneging on her word to run as an executive committee member in Maluki's team.
The executive had given Ole Koyiet the blessing to contest for the committee member’s position in NOC-K elections on Mutuku's side, only for Nyambura to pull the rug under them. Ole Koyiet has since presented his name for voting.
Kenya Swimming Federation, Badminton Kenya and Kenya Golf Union (KGU) will not vote as they are either embroiled in wrangles, or are not compliant with the Sports Act.