Minister meets ICC seeking solution
Ochilo Ayacko, Kenya's sports minister, is in London to meet with Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Speed, the ICC's president and chief executive, to discuss how to resolve the stand-off blighting Kenyan cricket
Cricinfo staff
08-Mar-2005
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Although CK has the backing of almost all Kenya's clubs, players and supporters, as well as the government, the KCA is still officially in charge of cricket in the country despite being virtually bankrupt. There have been reports that the ICC, under its own ruies, cannot recognise CK until June 2006 at the earliest, but Ayacko will try to persuade the ICC that common sense should prevail rather than the rule book. Were the KCA to remain the officially recognised body for another 15 months, the harm to Kenyan cricket could be irreparable.
The ICC is known to be concerned about the management and governance of the KCA, and Kenya's government are also carrying out investigations into the way the board has been run. At the end of February, bank records were seized as part of an ongoing investigation into claims made against the KCA.
In light of the significant issues facing the KCA, it would seem to be self-defeating for the ICC to adhere to the letter of the rulebook. Ayacko is thought to be hoping to explain the situation to Speed and Mani ahead of the ICC meeting in New Delhi on March 17 where the subject is sure to be raised.
While the ICC cannot become involved in domestic issues, this crisis now threatens the very future of one of the last World Cup's semi-finalists , and it may feel it has to act.
In today's Nation, Chris Tsuma, who is well informed on the operations of the KCA, reports that Jimmy Rayani, the former KCA chairman and a man under the spotlight himself, is attempting to broker an honourable exit for senior KCA officials. But many opponents of the board feel that this situation has gone too far and the time for negotiation has passed. They are also demanding answers to questions regarding what they claim are holes in the KCA's accounts.
Rayani's proposals also include keeping some existing officials on any new KCA board, and to many inside Kenyan cricket that is entirely unacceptable. "We have to get rid of the whole lot of them," one opponent told me. "We need a completely new start and not a reshuffling of the same old faces who have got us into this mess."