Kenyan swimmers a doubt for CANA Zone 3 Tour in Uganda

Kenya risks missing out on the CANA Zone 3 Swimming Championships slated for next week in Kampala, Uganda due to lack of funds.

Nairobi county secretary, Kenneth Karani, said due to the constitutional court case at the High Court and failure to conduct the elections, the Ministry of Sport has declined to fund the team’s travel to the event

Karani said the Commissioner of Sports, Gerald Gitonga has told them that it was going to be difficult to fund the team due to the issues surrounding it.

Kenya was expected to enter 48 swimmers for the week-long championship with the cost per swimmer totaling Sh130,000. The amount was to cater for air tickets, accommodation, Covid-19 tests, and other logistical costs.

Karani said only swimmers from rich families will be able to travel to the event. “It looks likely that guardians or parents with deep pockets can afford the trip locking out swimmers from poor backgrounds,” added Karani

He asked the Head of Sports Dispute Tribunal (SDT) John Ohaga to chart the way forward and start the election process without further delay.

“Our swimmers are suffering and for us to participate in any event, we need a letter from CANA and FINA. We are staring at a ban from FINA because of petty politics and lack of direction from the SDT. Mark you young girls and boys will be the biggest losers here,” added Karani.

Karani has accused some of the Interim management committee(IMC) members of conflict of interest.

“Some of the members who sat in the committee are the ones who have rushed to court seeking nullification of the constitutional and election process yet they want to conduct swimming championships,” he posed.