Kenyan Minister was wrong to dissolve board in 2001

Kenya's High Court has ruled that the decision taken in 2001 by Sports Minister Katana Ngala, to dissolve the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA), was illegal - the decision itself has been revoked.

The dispute had begun when the KCA had cancelled the contracts of its professional players after they threatened to boycott a match against Sri Lanka in January 2001. Ngala had stepped in and appointed Nairobi lawyer Paul Ndung'u as head of a new administration which included Sharad Rao, S V Sarvaiya, Tom Tikolo and Sameer Inamdar.

This group were to document the dispute between the KCA, its players and its members while also reporting on the KCA finances. The matter reached the courts when the original committee, led by Jimmy Rayani, sought legal advice and decided to challenge the decision taken by the Minister. As a result, the Minister's move was put on hold pending a full hearing of the case.

In her ruling, Justice Jean Gacheche said that the Minister had acted 'ultra vires' - beyond his power - and outside his jurisdiction as defined by the constitution of the Kenya National Sports Council. The Justice said that Ngala had flouted the rules of natural justice by not according the association the audience it was entitled to before appointing an investigation commission.

The International Cricket Council and Kenya's Olympic Committee both backed the right of the Kenya Cricket Association to deal with their own affairs. At the time of the Minister's move the secretary-general of Kenya's National Olympic Committee, Tom Omwombo, said that if there was dissatisfaction with the way a sport was run, it was up to the affiliates of that sport to employ democratic processes to effect change.