NAIROBI, Kenya, April 28, 2025 – Elections for the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) can proceed after the High Court struck out a previous order that allowed four warring federations to participate in the polls.
In a ruling by Justice Bahati Mwamuye on Monday morning, the court vacated its order that had allowed for the Kenya Taekwondo Federation (KTF), Kenya Triathlon, Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) and Kenya Handball Federation (KHF) to vote in the polls despite contention among their officials on who was/is to represent them.
“This Court’s Orders dated and issued on 24/04/2025 be and are hereby vacated in toto, and all conservatory orders and all directions therein be and are hereby set-aside. The matter shall be mentioned on 20/05/2025 for further directions,” Mwamuye said in his ruling.
The application to allow the four federations participate in the polls had been filed by Kenya Taekwondo president Suleiman Sumba on Wednesday last week, against NOCK returning officer Muthee Gakuru.
In his application, Sumba had appealed against any attempt by Gakuru/IEBC to seclude the four federations from the polls — having failed to agree on who to carry the vote on their behalf.
Despite declining to stay the elections as Sumba had prayed, Mwamuye ordered that the four federations be included in the exercise under whatever circumstances.
Monday’s ruling means IEBC (Gakuru) has the leeway to exclude the four from the elections should they fail to reach an agreement on who among their officials will vote on their behalf.
As per section 5.2 of NOCK Elections Rules and Regulations, each federation is to be represented by two delegates one of who shall be either the president or secretary general and who shall be eligible to vote.
Furthermore, each federation is to provide the names of their two delegates, clearly indicating the official who is eligible to vote on their behalf.
This information is to be availed in the form of a letter signed by the federation’s president and secretary general, along with a copy of the minutes ratifying the decision.
This means that failure of the four federations to agree and provide the aforementioned information ahead of the polls may render them non-compliant to the electoral code of conduct.
The polls were scheduled for Thursday last week during NOC-K’s annual general meeting (AGM) at Pride Inn, Westlands.
However, it was adjourned for an unspecified period after the four federations failed to agree on which officials to carry the vote despite hours of deliberations and mediations.
The Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) had in the morning allowed the elections to proceed, provided the four federations could reach a consensus on their respective vote carriers.
