Sharad Ghai: 'I'm not going anywhere'

With a week of the 21-day stay of the government's suspension of the Kenyan Cricket Association's executive remaining - the court has to make a ruling by tomorrow week - Sharad Ghai, the beleaguered KCA chairman, has launched a spirited counter-attack against his many critics.

Ghai has been attacked by many within Kenyan cricket for his running of the KCA, with the most serious allegations concerning large sums of money which it is claimed have disappeared from the association's accounts. But Ghai insisted that some people wanted him out of the way for their own reasons, and he delivered a defiant message: "I have news for them. I'm not going anywhere!" he told The Nation. "I'm way beyond these politics of election."

Ghai was eager to talk about accusations that the KCA was undemocratic as it had not held elections since 1997. "I'm thinking of writing to the Attorney General for interpretation as to what to do. Do we follow court injunctions or do we ignore these legal inhibitions?" he argued. "This case of KCA being restrained from holding polls by court injunctions on one hand and then being accused of not holding elections on the other is simply not fair."

He also looked to rubbish suggestions that he had been involved in any financial mismanagement. "Because I'm not a millionaire, Media Plus had to look for partners who could provide international security for any undertakings. That is standard business practice. That is how Media Plus contracted Intex to underwrite the costs of the international events we hosted."

Ghai also said that suggestions the KCA was holding on to players monies from the 2003 World Cup were simply untrue. "What we owe is part payment of money from the 2003 World Cup and the Champions Trophy." He added that players' salaries had accounted for almost 100% of the board's income between 2001 and 2004. "The players should be the last people to complain ... they should be grateful that the KCA made them the best-paid sportsmen in Kenya."

And Ghai concluded that the KCA had pleaded with the ICC to get them more international exposure, which would have helped the national side and made the sport more attractive to sponsors. "We produced a paper meant to improve our Test-status chances. We pleaded with ... the ICC to fund us with an additional $500,000 to help us guarantee exposure and specialist coaches in addition to ICC providing us an international programme. We made the deal but what we received was only $300,000. We got no international programme. Had we got one, we would have generated some sponsorship but we did not."

Since the court order was granted to the existing executive, the minister and opponents of the KCA have been quiet. Sources close to the minister maintain that enough evidence has come to light to enable them to proceed against board members once the initial situation has been resolved. What is for sure is that Ghai won't go down without a fight.