National Olympic Committee of Kenya: Nock deputy treasurer Soi denies he has been appointed Chief de Mission to ‘Club’ Games
Olympics
By
Gilbert Wandera
| Sep 20, 2017
Tergat asks warring federations to bury the hatchet and prepare for polls.
The push and pull on the National Olympic Committee of Kenya elections has dented the country’s image on the global stage, Kenyan legend Paul Tergat said yesterday.
Tergat, who attended an International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Lima at the weekend, said the September 29 elections should go ahead as planned.
“Because of the wrangles in Nock, we have a bad image out there. We need to ensure the elections are held without fail,” Tergat said after a stakeholders meeting.
The Olympic 10,000m silver medallist, who is contesting for Nock’s top position, said he is satisfied with the deliberations at yesterday’s meeting and hopes it will unlock the impasse.
“It is great the meeting has resolved that we move ahead with the elections and all pending issues be tabled before the general assembly for resolution. There is a lot of work to be done and the process should not be delayed,” he said.
Yesterday’s meeting thrashed out a number of sticking issues to help pave the way for elections and prevent any attempts to challenge the polls in the court.
The major sticking issue agreed on is the need to open up the process for fresh nominations.
According to the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) programmes officer Irene Tindi, those intending to vie for positions have until Friday to present their nomination papers.
“According to CMD, the nomination process was closed long before the aborted May 5 elective assembly but since the extraordinary meeting decided to open up the nominations, we have given them a Friday deadline.
“However, whether they are allowed to contest or not will be decided by the general assembly, in line with the Nock constitution,” she said.
That looks like a tall order for new entrants in the Nock race considering that candidates are supposed to present their nomination papers 14 days before the elections.
The meeting also ruled that federations involved in wrangles should resolve them before the elections, failing which the general assembly would be called upon to intervene.
In this regard, the factions have been asked to register with CMD before the elections. David Kinja, the cycling star, appealed to factions in the Kenya Cycling Association to bury the hatchet.
Elsewhere, the Nock deputy treasurer, Steven Soi, has disputed reports that he has been appointed Chef de Mission to next year’s Commonwealth Games set for Gold Coast, Australia, in April.
Soi said Nock has not appointed the Chef de Mission or any other official for the Commonwealth Games.
“I was appointed as a member of the Gold Coast 2018 working group by the Commonwealth Games Federation in consultation with the Gold Coast 2018 organising committee as regional coordinator for Africa.
?“The appointment was communicated to me in February last year and since then I have been working with the other members for realisation and delivery of the 21st Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia,” he said.