Sports Disputes Tribunal ‘working hard’ for swimming suspension to be lifted - Ohaga

The Sports Dispute Tribunal Chairman John Ohaga says they are working towards helping the Kenya Swimming Federation (KSF) avoid a ban from the international swimming body FINA.

KSM remains suspended by FINA due to delay in organizing elections and there are fears should the elections not be conducted in time, as required by the international swimming body it would attract a ban

And Ohaga aware of the danger says there is a need for dialogue to help get Kenya out of the out of impasse to avoid further sanctions.

“The problem in swimming is that there has been a delay in holding the elections and that is because there is a petition filed in the high court which has challenged the constitution of the swimming federation. That constitution was nurtured by the interim management committee that was put in place by the Sports Disputes Tribunal. However some stakeholders are unhappy with certain provisions relating to elections and they feel those provisions do not allow full participation in the electoral process, what we call universal suffrage,” said Ohaga.

The elections have been put on hold for two years after four members of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) went to the high court stopping the polls and the case is yet to be heard and determined.

“So the high court has issued an order suspending the elections and as a result because FINA expected elections to be held within a certain time frame they have suspended swimming. So we are working hard to ensure that we overcome this so that the FINA suspension can be lifted and swimming can get back where it belongs,’’ added Ohaga.

Sources that did not want to be named disclosed that the swimming stakeholders want to form a breakaway federation despite the backlash they might get from FINA following the failure of the Sport Dispute Tribunal (SDT) to chart a way forward on the matter.

It’s believed that seven counties; Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kiambu, Kajiado and Uasin Gishu are behind the move to form a breakaway federation.