The prospect of elections at the National Olympic Committee of Kenya hit a snag after the High Court pushed proceedings further to June.
This is in order to pave way for an in depth study of the disputes surrounding the Olympics body and its affiliate federations.
The High Court through Judge Chacha Mwita issued orders to have the planned process halted after officials from the Kenya Taekwondo Association presented a case disputing their omission from the electoral process by the Centre for Multiparty Democracy-Kenya.
In Monday’s court hearing in Nairobi, a new directive was issued extending the period of the initial orders that stopped the planned elections slated for May 5 until June 21 when all contentious matters will be officially heard.
The papers submitted by KTKA to the court states: “CMD-K has through a ruling barred us from nominating or taking part in the voting at the elections of Nock’s executive committee, without justifiable cause.”
The decision made on May 2, is a complete turnaround as the election agent to NOCK had just recently through a decision made on April 25, cleared Kenya Taekwondo Association to participate in the elections which were set to be held on May 5.
KTKA further argued that the constitution grants any NOCK affiliate federation the right to nominate an individual to take part in the electoral process.
No legal grounds
Consequently, CMD-K’s decision to bar KTKA from the elections was unconstitutional. CMD-K wants the case dismissed on grounds that KTKA does not have legal grounds to file a case against them.
In a case presented by the Sports Registrar in the Ministry of Sports, Rose Wasike, KTKA was deemed not to have fulfilled the requirements needed to have been issued with certificate thus ineligible to participate in the elections.
This twist and turns has been fuelled by the emergence of factions formed in a bid to get the rally up the numbers prior to the elections.
Some federations have already rolled the dice on their preferred candidates. Others have gone through thick and thin to ensure that they are represented at the polls.
Currently, there are three stables formed in the rush for seats. They are First Force, Second Force and Third Force all in support of Paul Tergat, who is unopposed for the presidency of the elections.
Should KTKA be successful in being reinstated by the court then it will open the door for aspirants Stephen Soi and James Chacha who have both been endorsed by KTKA to run for the post of deputy treasurer and secretary general respectively.
But until June, the hope of a transition at NOCK still hangs in the balance.
