‘Methuselahs’ of athletics with iron grip on Riadha House posts

A week ago, former international athletes and national coaches criticised the Athletics Kenya (AK) executive, accusing it of impunity for forcing a convicted official on them at the expense of their preferred candidate, a decorated former athlete.

Supporting the move by delegates in a special meeting to elect the 2008 Beijing Olympics 800 metres champion and Team Kenya captain Wilfred Bungei as Nandi County athletics boss, three-time World 3,000m steeplechase champion Moses Kiptanui termed the decision a last resort after the AK failed to act.

Kiptanui said AK should have suspended Abraham Mutai, who was convicted by a Kapsabet court and was therefore, according to the athletes, unfit to hold public office.

Former Olympian Edwin Koech said the AK branch had missed funding from the County government because Mutai was still in office.

“It’s the upcoming athletes who are now suffering since we can’t fund them for events or host championships,” said Koech.
On May 21 last year, magistrate Benjamin Limo found Mutai guilty of incitement and handed him a two-year probationary sentence.

Earlier this year, Nandi County Assembly Clerk Barnabas Kosgey wrote to AK president Isaiah Kiplagat seeking to have Mutai stripped of his position following his conviction. And at the recent meeting, Kenya’s most decorated athletics coach, Mike Kosgei, said Mutai should, alternatively, have resigned.

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“Even with the laws of the land, Mutai is not supposed to be in office after being convicted,” Kiptanui, who is also the 1996 Atlanta Olympics 3,000m steeplechase silver medallist, said.

The delegates argued that the sentence automatically disqualified Mutai from holding AK office pursuant to Chapter Six of the Kenyan Constitution on integrity and Chapter 16.1 (b) of the AK statutes. 

AK boss Kiplagat, however, dismissed Mutai’s ouster, saying the move was against the AK constitution and that the national office was not notified of any delegates meeting in Nandi.

“Article 15 of the AK constitution states that an office bearer may be removed from office if the Executive Committee so recommends and the Annual General Meeting resolves by a two-thirds majority of the members present that such an office bearer should be removed,” said Kiplagat.

SHREWED ADMINSTRATOR

But Kiptanui termed Kiplagat’s assertions as hypocritical and wondered why the AK executive failed to take action against Mutai.

“Why should Kiplagat wake up at this time when delegates moved to restore sanity after the head office failed in its duties?” he asked. “It tells you the calibre of the leadership we have at AK.”

But then, love him or hate him, you must admit that this man Kiplagat is a shrewd administrator who brooks no opposition from any quarter.

He has been in the sports management circles for close to half a century, during which time he dipped his fingers in every pie cooked in almost all sports kitchens in Kenya. And for just being easily the longest-serving sports administrator in Kenya, he has acquired many friends and an even bigger number of enemies.

The long-serving AK president first appeared on the organised athletics scene in 1975 when he was elected vice-chairman of the now-defunct Kenya Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA), which was led by Charles Mukora.

In 1976, Kiplagat was elected the secretary-general of KAAA, then under the leadership of Sam Ongeri. He was also co-opted into the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Technical Committee during the Montreal Olympics and served there until 1987.

Kiplagat has also donned many hats in this country. He was a prisons officer for a very long time.

Those who like him credit Kiplagat with having made the Kenya Prisons athletics team the powerhouse that it is. The naysayers however see no input whatsoever from him and even go ahead to assert that any good that came out of his stint there happened in spite of his meddling.

The indefatigable Kiplagat even waded into the banking industry and he was the manager of the state-owned Postbank for some 14 years. His tenure there ended in 2002 when the financial institution became a fully fledged bank.

In 1999, Kiplagat ventured into motor rallying, becoming the chairman of Safari Rally Ltd when the lucrative sport was hogging global attention. He remained at the helm until 2002.

It was, however, during his tenure at the motorsport federation that Kenya was kicked out of the World Rally Championship (WRC) circuit. The 2002 Safari Rally was so poorly organised that many drivers retired.

Over the same period, Kiplagat was the chairman of the Automobile Association of Kenya (AA), which was also affiliated to FIA.

In 1987, Kiplagat served as secretary-cum-treasurer of the Eastern Africa Athletics Board, at a time when the world was coming to grips with Kenya’s dominance in athletics. Then, the IAAF created a regional development centre that would be used to train coaches and athletes.

Nairobi was picked as the home of the first ever development centre in the world and Kiplagat was appointed president while veteran John Velzian, who was a regional developer, became his vice-president.

Velzain is the current president of the project.

Kiplagat had his sights fixed on the apex of Kenyan athletics management and he would ascend to the throne in 1992 following machinations that saw Robert Ouko get no member to second him during the elections.

Since then, it has become almost impossible to compete against him for the post. Many have tried and failed. No claw hammer could prise him out of the seat and, 22 years later, the ‘Methuselah’ of local athletics administration is not considering retirement as an option.

PREDETERMINED ELECTIONS

One of the candidates who once vied against him is two-time Boston Marathon and 1991 World 10,000m champion Moses Tanui, in 2004, but he never even reached the polling hall.

Kiptanui also challenged Kiplagat in 2008 but only managed 14 votes against Kiplagat’s 58. Once again, the veteran administrator had easily retained his seat.

The circumstances that made great athletes opt out of the race before it had even started just gets to show you how skewed the AK elections are.

The only blot on Kiplagat’s litany of success — if you may — is his failure to capture the leadership of the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (Nock), which is led by athletics legend Kipchoge Keino — on three occasions, surprisingly.

He has unsuccessfully contested for the Nock vice-chairman position in 2003, 2007 and 2013.

Kiplagat has also had a go at the continental sports leadership. In 2004, he unsuccessfully vied for the Confederation of Africa Athletics (Caf) chairmanship.

DAVID OKEYO

Athletics Kenya (AK) vice-president David Okeyo has always harboured the dream of occupying the top seat but held his cards close to his chest despite being preferred for the position by some of the local athletes.

When some AK branch chairmen almost succeeded in toppling Isaiah Kiplagat from the presidency in a failed ‘revolution’ just after the 2013 Moscow World Championships, Okeyo was their key point man to take over the helm of the organisation.

However, the indecisive Okeyo was easily swayed into Kiplagat’s machinery to end the bold attempt.

And, just like Kiplagat, he has managed to entrench himself in the athletics circles.

Having been first elected the Nairobi Branch public relations officer of the now-defunct Kenya Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA) in 1984, he bludgeoned his way into the national office as acting secretary-general in 1989 thanks to the suspension of Robert Ouko.

He finally became secretary-general in 1992 after beating Peter Mathu and has held the powerful position since. Okeyo, who worked for Kenya Railways Corporation from 1962 to 1998 and was a high jumper in school, ventured into sports administration when he attained a diploma after attending an IAAF Fresher Course in 1978.

He was elected the Kenya Communication Sports Organisation (Kecoso) Committee member the same year.
The Kecoso position propelled Okeyo to the higher echelons of athletics management in the country.

FIRM GRIP ON AK AFFAIRS

Besides his firm grip on AK affairs at Riadha House, Okeyo’s influence has been felt not only at the continental level but also IAAF circles, thanks mostly to the performance of Kenyan athletes across the world and not necessarily his acumen as a leader.

He was elected to the IAAF Road Running Committee in 1994, a position he still holds. He was also elected the Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA) vice-president in 2006, a position he has held to date.

Okeyo was the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) vice-chairman from 2009 to 2013, when he stepped down at the elections in favour of his boss Kiplagat. The latter was nonetheless defeated, leaving AK without representation in the Nock executive. 

He also served as the chairman of the East Africa Athletics Board for three years until 2010, when he stepped down for AK vice-president Jackson Tuwei.

Besides the 2007 World Cross Country Championship, which remains one of the most successful events AK has ever staged, the 2010 Africa Championships are also memorable.

The Nyayo National Stadium was filled to capacity to the extent that some fans were turned away. Okeyo aligned himself to the success of the championships as the chief executive officer before he won the most votes among the three vice-presidents of AK in the new dispensation.

Having served as the secretary-general for a quarter of a century, he got 56 votes. He was ahead of Paul Mutwii, who had 49 votes, and Jackson Tuwei with 40.