Maureen Owiti has thrown her hat into the ring to contest for the presidency of the Kenya Swimming Federation during the polls set for Saturday at Moi Stadium, Kasarani.
A gynecologist by profession, Owiti has promised to ensure transparency and accountability for the sport if she emerges winner. Wrangles have been the hallmark of the association for the last seven years.
"If elected as President, I promise to ensure an open door policy and have accountability in how our sport is conducted— from governance to selection of swimmers," she noted.
Owiti was team manager for the Cana Zone 3 Championship in Uganda in 2021 and Cana Zone Four Championships in Dar-es-Salaam last year and the experience opened her eyes to the challenges swimmers face in the country.
“Being in a leadership role and seeing what our swimmers have gone through in the past two years, spurred me to go for the top job and to bring a change to the sport,” added Owiti. She added that the team that will be elected on Saturday will be in a transitional one.
“Whoever wins the election has a lot of work to do in terms of coming up with structures and bringing all stakeholders on board. It will be restoring the lost glory of the sport,” she noted.
Owiti will be up against KSF Nairobi County chairman Teddy Wamuyu for the top job in the elections she described as long overdue.
“I will support him if he wins the elections. It's been a long road to get there but once the elections are done, we will support and make the sport vibrant," she observed.
Earlier this week, a petition filed by Emily Njeru and Margaret Muasya to have the election stopped was dismissed by the high court. KSF Stabilization Committee team leader, Michael Otieno, said preparations for the pools are on schedule and asked all voters to turn up.
The election will be conducted by the Centre of Corporate Governance. The polls will be conducted under World Aquatic guidelines with the new swimming body to be known as Kenya Aquatics Federation
