ICC had 'deep concerns' about KCA

Documents submitted to the High Court in Nairobi have highlighted the scale of the problems surrounding the Kenyan Cricket Association, and also revealed that the International Cricket Council was involved in the Kenyan government's decision to suspend the KCA.

In an affidavit, Ochillo Ayacko, Kenya's minister of sports, revealed that he had been invited to meet with Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Speed, the ICC's president and chief executive, in London in December, and was told that all funding would be stopped because monies given to the KCA were not being used in an appropriate manner. Ayacko added that he was urged to take whatever action was necessary to halt what the ICC maintained was an unsatisfactory situation.

Cricinfo has a copy of a letter from Speed to Ayacko, dated November 3, in which he highlights the ICC's worries. "The ICC," Speed wrote, "has raised deep concerns as to the management and governance of Kenyan cricket." On November 16, Matthew Kennedy, the ICC's global-development manager, wrote to Sammy Obingo - who was the KCA's general manager at the time - warning that "unless satisfactory progress is made, the payment of the next instalment under the Kenya Special Project would be in jeopardy."

It is believed that the ICC has suspended funding pending a resolution of the current situation. The financial state of the KCA is not known, but there are signs that it is virtually insolvent and unable to pay its debts.

Ayacko also highlighted conflicts of interest of various members of the KCA executive between their positions as members of the executive and their private business interests, their failure to account for funds generated from TV rights and tournaments, and the continuing lack of elections which has resulted in their self-perpetuation in office.

He also rubbished claims made by Joshua Okuthe, the chairman of the Kenyan National Sports Council, that he had not been consulted about the impending suspension. Ayacko claimed that the pair met on January 5 and talked the situation over from more than an hour and a half. Okuthe, he said, agreed with the suspension and told the minister that the KCA executive was dogged by resignations and that the association was virtually bankrupt.

He concluded, Ayacko added, by saying that Sharad Ghai, the KCA's chairman, was the real problem. That might be particularly embarrassing to Okuthe as he has publicly backed Ghai since the suspension.