Olympics: Official confirms talks ahead of elections

NOCK Interim NOCK Committee officials Waithaka Kioni (left) and Andrew Mudibo during a press conference in Nairobi on Friday, Oct 21,, 2016. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

There’s hope at last for NOCK family

In May KTA Secretary General filed a case, which stopped NOCK from holding the elections

Kenya Taekwondo Association to drop court case against Olympics body.

Kenya Taekwondo Association (KTA) has confirmed it will withdraw a case it filed stopping elections called by the country’s Olympic body.

According to KTA Secretary General George Wesonga, they have agreed with the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) to pull out of the case.

Wesonga filed the case in May, which stopped NOCK from holding the elections. 

He said: ”We are ready to withdraw the case and we are going to do it today. We are delighted that our conditions were met."

One of the conditions put forth by the association is that no member should be blocked from taking part in the elections.

“We are asking that all associations be allowed to take part in the polls as they are part of NOCK. It is unfair to lock out some people on flimsy grounds,” he said.

Wesonga’s statement came one day after the High Court directed the parties to withdraw the case by today.

Justice Chacha Mwita urged the two parties to reach an out-of-court settlement on the matter.

Mwita had in May granted KTA an injunction stopping the elections.

The association went to court after they were barred from taking part in the polls owing to internal wrangles.

Apart from KTA, Kenya Cycling and Kenya Badminton Associations were also barred from the elections.

With KTA confirming they will withdraw the case, this will pave way for the NOCK elections.

According to Kenya Table Tennis Association (KTTA) President, Andrew Mudibo, NOCK will not issue a fresh notice for the elections.

“We will proceed from where we left since the meeting was simply adjourned in respect to a court order,” said Mudibo, who is contesting for the post of secretary general.

Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ordered the withdrawal of the case that was blocking the elections.

The international body also ordered that Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) be retained to conduct the polls.

The IOC dismissed efforts to replace CMD following complaints from NOCK that the body was biased in its operations.

“We have carefully examined the various points mentioned in your latest communications and noted, unfortunately, that they do not address the main issues we raised,” IOC Deputy Director General Pere Miro wrote to NOCK.

It added: ”In view of this, we request the High Court to clarify the implications of the delay of holding elections as we have not seen any documentation about this specific issue and believe this should have been done first before considering any further steps.”

“In parallel, take serious action to get this case before High Court withdrawn in order for the election process to resume and conclude without any further delay as the concerns of the taekwondo federation have been sorted out."