(ATR) IOC Member Paul Tergat is the new Kenyan National Olympic Committee (NOC-K) President after winning a delayed election unopposed.
Tergat was challenged by Kenya Swimming Association vice chairman Patrick Muyah, but the NOC-K general assembly voted against his candidacy. That left Tergat unopposed for the presidency.
Muyah received six votes out of 18 to determine his eligibility according to reports from the Daily Nation. Elections were delayed in the beginning as the assembly debated the numerous court cases affecting officials within the NOC-K.
Tergat succeeds Kip Keino, who despite conflicting reports did not stand for the presidency. Keino had been in charge of the NOC-K since 1999 serving four terms.
Holding elections has been a turbulent, stop and start process for the NOC-K this year. The committee avoided an IOC suspension by passing a new constitution in March, but repeated delays in holding an election led to the IOC to stop solidarity payments.
In August, the IOC said it would not ban the NOC-K, but said conditions had not improved to resume funding. Tergat was to run unopposed as president in May, but an injunction was granted preventing elections by the Kenya Taekwondo Association. Both the NOC-K and the KTA attempted to withdraw the injunction, but were stopped in August by the Kenyan Sports Ministry, according to local reports.
The incident echoed attempts by the ministry to disband the NOC following the Rio 2016 Olympics. After the Rio 2016 Olympics numerous NOC-K officials were arrested for graft, and the sports ministry attempted to disband the NOC citing "mismanagement."
The IOC told Around the Ringsthat it was not in a position to immediately comment on the outcome of the election. IOC member from South Africa Sam Ramsamy was sent to Kenya as an observer of the election, and will be reporting back. From that report the IOC will make a decision on whether or not to restore funding.
Written by Aaron Bauer and Gerard Farek
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