Dr Maureen Owiti will be seeking to restore lost glory of swimming in the country if elected the president of the Kenya Swimming Federation (KSF) during the forthcoming polls set for Saturday at Moi Stadium, Kasarani.
Speaking to KBC Digital on Friday, Owiti -gynecologist by profession remained hopeful of winning the weekend exercise in a bid to bring back transparency and accountability at the federation which has experienced chaos in the last few years.
“Once we get to the office we will restore transparency and accountability and ensure there’s always on open selection criteria of our swimmers to represent the country in major international championships. In the past it’s been haphazard because sometimes you’re told there’s a calendar which you ultimately need a rocket science to find on the website.We will bring everybody on board and have stakeholder involvement in running the game” she said
Owiti who was team manager for the Cana Zone 3 Championship in Uganda in 2021 and Cana Zone Four Championships in Dar-es-Salaam last year said she will work with all branches who form an integral part of swimming discipline.
“We will try our best to be present in what’s happening. We have counties that are coming up well like Kiambu and Uasin Gishu and as the national federation we will keep supporting their ambition and be present during their events.Generally no one will will be left behind including Nairobi, Mombasa counties which have done much to keep the sport alive and we’ll try do things differently and in open manner as we keep enjoying the sport we love” she added
According to FINA Kenya Stabilisation Secretariat team leader Michael Otieno,World Aquatics approved the election date giving the Stabilisation Committee a one-week extension from the earlier deadline of June 30.
“World Aquatics has given us the go-ahead. Our mandate was to conclude at the end of the month of June and we hope that come early July, we will return the sport to its owners.The polls will be held under the new Constitution and my hope is that stakeholders, coaches, teachers parents, clubs, and counties can seize the moment and hold the elections so that sport can move forward,” said Otieno.
The KSF has not held elections for several years, missing multiple deadlines to do so in the wake of the resignation of long-serving chairman Ben Ekumbo.
FINA (now World Aquatics) first suspended the KSF in December 2019 on a temporary basis, but after multiple failures to conduct elections, the federation was banned indefinitely in May 2022, meaning Kenyan athletes would have to compete under a neutral flag.
FINA then appointed a Stabilization Committee to run the KSF during the suspension, with the goal of leading the federation to conduct successful elections to ultimately get its sanctions lifted.
