Sasha Mutai has declared his interest to replace outgoing Kenya Rugby Union chairman Richard Omwela.
Omwela, a highly connected fellow in the corporate corridors will not be defending his seat after serving for two terms.
He has instead turned his interest to the Rugby Afrique where he will be going for the position of the Vice President.
Mutai, who lost to Omwela by two votes in 2017, is campaigning on the platform revamping the Safari Sevens as well as the Kenya 7s as key areas of focus should he win the March 2019 polls.
Mutai has promised to ‘bring back credibility’ at the Ngong Road secretariat but of immediate concerns for the Kenyan game will be the high turnover of coaches.
Senior players recently declined to pen new contracts, forcing coach Paul Murunga to use a relatively young squad for the 2018/19 HSBC World Series and the effect is open for everyone to see.
Kenya are now placed 13th in the 16-nation table with 36 points adrift of series leaders Fiji after three rounds.
Safari Seven has experienced stagnant growth since 2013 with dwindling numbers even as the Union continues to shift the venue from Nyayo to Kasarani and back to RFUEA Ground where it all started.
“Safari 7s currently lacks a title sponsor simply due to lack of faith in KRU by the corporate bodies. Once they regain their faith, with KRU under new management, they’ll be back. The last time safari 7s recorded a profit was in 2013 under my Chairmanship. And remember, that was during the weekend when terror visited Nairobi and we still had a record attendance of 47,000 fans at Kasarani,” Mutai told Raga House.
At this point, no candidate has come out to declare interest in the hot seat though Raymond Olendo, the director of national squads and his commercial services Ezekiel Owuor as well as honourary secretary Oduor Gangla and former director Andrew Musangi are said to be eying the seat.
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