Kenyan judo finally picks itself up from the mat

Early this week, there was some great news for Kenyan judo following the election of Kenya Judo Federation president Shadrack Maluki as the new Africa Judo Union (AJU) chairman.

Maluki, who is also the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) first vice president, registered a resounding victory to clinch the continental body’s top seat with 39 votes against Togo Judo Federation president Deladem Akpaki’s 11 votes during AJU Congress in Dakar, Senegal on Tuesday.

Maluki’s election victory is the latest in a series of positive stories from a sport that for so many years has been in the doldrums.

Indeed, the national men and women’s judo teams are still basking in the glory of their sweet victory at the 13th edition of the East Africa Senior Judo Championships, which were held two months ago in Zanzibar.

Kenya topped the medals table in the 10-nation championships with 10 medals – six gold, three silver and one bronze – to bring to an end Burundi’s five-year stranglehold at the regional competition.

Before that, in December 2020, Kenyan judokas had posted an impressive performance with a third place finish at the Africa Senior Championships in Madagascar.  

These recent gains in the sport is what makes Maluki’s election to the helm of the continental body praiseworthy. These are truly good times for a federation whose near inactivity in recent years almost brought the sport to its knees.

Nobody knows the low depths to which the sport had sunk in the country than Daily Nation’s veteran columnist Roy Gachuhi, who in an article published on these pages on January 30, 2021 nostalgically narrated the slow and painful death of a famous judo club in Nairobi which he once belonged to.

It was therefore heartening to hear Maluki stating that he will prioritise and speed up the implementation of projects run by AJU and International Judo Federation (IJF) in Kenya as well as initiating new programmes in the continent during his five-year tenure.

Also high on his agenda is fast-tracking the construction of a judo development centre in Kasarani.

The other good thing that Kenyan judo fraternity can look forward to is the sixth leg Grand Slam which will be hosted in Kenya next year. No other African country has ever hosted the Grand Slam, which by stature only ranks below the Olympic Games and the World Championships in judo’s hierarchy of prestigious events.

These grand plans, if well executed, coupled with Maluki’s new position of influence should certainly give judo lovers in the country some hope for a comeback by a sport that once appeared to be out of its depth.

We can only wish the incoming Africa Judo Union chairman Godspeed in all his endeavors. Congratulations Bwana Maluki!   

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On Thursday afternoon there was palpable excitement on the Daily Nation sports desk with the return of Vincent Opiyo, who two years ago heeded a divine calling and quit journalism to pursue priesthood with the Jesuits, a Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers.

Many faces were lit up and word quickly went round on the desk's WhatsApp group that the 'Father' was around. With the young man of the cloth in the building, several work stations were momentarily abandoned for an exchange of socially-distanced greetings.

Father Opiyo, as we all like calling him, was gracious enough to briefly share nuggets of his experience so far in his journey into priesthood. We all felt truly blessed!