Tegla Loroupe who is one of the Executive Members at NOCK during the Extra Ordinary Assembly Meeting held on Tuesday 7, March 2017. PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 7 – The proposed contentious National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) constitution has been rejected.
The proposed draft was rejected by 19-13 votes during a NOCK Extra Ordinary General Assembly held on Tuesday at a Nairobi hotel.
The draft was further dealt a blow for failing to meet the NOCK constitutional two thirds threshold of passing any amendment or constitution which is 21 votes.
The poll was conducted using the old constitution where the current Executive Committee Members had a head start of 11 votes.
Consequently, NOCK will be governed with the old constitution which will guide the local Olympics umbrella body to forthcoming elections with the contentious clause of allowing Executive Committee Members to vote during elections.
Kenya Table Tennis Association Chairman Andrew Mudibo.PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
NOCK affiliates led by the Kenya Table Tennis Association (KTTA) Chairman Andrew Mudibo cried foul and said they will fight to the bitter end by ensuring reforms in sporting organization are addressed.
“It is not surprising we knew they were going to shoot it down. We are not yet done in the fight and we will leave nothing to chance,” he declared.
Mudibo said they will communicate to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for intervention before the situation gets out of hand.
“NOCK had been given orders by IOC that the proposed constitution it had recommended be passed as it is without any amendment but the Executive Committee Members went against IOC’s wishes,” he lamented.
Mudibo threatened that they will not go for the NOCK polls under the old constitution and may consider pulling out of the umbrella body.
NOCK assistant secretary general James Chacha said it’s not the Executive that shot down the new constitution but the General Assembly.
“The proponents of the new constitution did little to lobby members to vote for the proposed draft and should therefore not whine and blame the executive,” he said.
NOCK assistant secretary general James Chacha.PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
Chacha added that the matter of the constitution has been put to rest and they were now focused and preparing for the polls to be held at the end of May or early June under the old constitution.
Jerome Poivey, the head of institutional relations and governance at the IOC as well as Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa president’s chief of staff Mohamed Azzoug who were observers declined to comment on the matter.
The two observers will give a report to IOC over the situation ahead of its meeting on March 16 and 17 where Kenya will be discussed.
In an earlier communication from IOC addressed to NOCK and its 19 affiliates, it indicated that if the issue is not resolved, the world Olympic governing body may issue a ban on Kenya.
