Limo’s Uasin Gishu breaks away

What you need to know:

  • The county leadership said they were forced to break away after realising AK boss Isaiah Kiplagat was favouring Mutai, whom they want dismissed.
  • But the national office maintains that Mutai is the bona fide chairman, contrary to AK statutes which state that such a person is not eligible to hold office.
  • Limo insisted that they will only work with Mutai when he clears his name from the court case.

The Uasin Gishu County branch of Athletics Kenya has severed links with the Central Rift region and threatened to break away from the national office if the impasse surrounding the region’s chairman Abraham Mutai is not resolved soon.

In a press briefing in Eldoret on Tuesday, executive members of the branch said they will begin organising races and events independently after the national office in Nairobi failed to take action against Mutai, who is a convict.

“We are formally making it clear that as a county branch, we are separating ourselves from the regional leadership and we shall therefore run as an independent branch,” Benjamin Limo, the county chairman, said.

The county leadership said they were forced to break away after realising AK boss Isaiah Kiplagat was favouring Mutai, whom they want dismissed.

“We have raised several issues with the national office but we have been frustrated by the lack of leadership at Riadha House. They want to impose Mutai on us but we are saying no!” said Limo, the 2005 5,000m world champion.

TWO-YEAR PROBATION SENTENCE

The Central Rift region and Riadha House have been at loggerheads since last month when the Nandi County branch elected 2008 Olympic 800m champion Wilfred Bungei to replace Mutai, who is serving a two-year probation sentence by Kapsabet Magistrate Court which found him guilty of incitement.

In his ruling on May 21 last year, Kapsabet magistrate Benjamin Limo found Mutai guilty of incitement and handed him the two-year probationary sentence.

Earlier this year, Nandi County Assembly Clerk Barnabas Kosgey, on behalf of the Assembly, wrote to the national office to have Mutai stripped of his position following his conviction.

But the national office maintains that Mutai is the bona fide chairman, contrary to AK statutes which state that such a person is not eligible to hold office.

Limo insisted that they will only work with Mutai when he clears his name from the court case.

Limo, who is the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Athletes’ Representative, stressed that Mutai, like any other person serving a court sentence, should not be an office bearer within the association.