NAIROBI, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Olympic body NOCK President Kipchoge Keino has confirmed he will not defend his seat on Sept. 29 setting the stage for new leadership under legendary Paul Tergat.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) has mounted pressure on Kenya to elect new officials and urged all aggrieved parties to seek arbitration outside the court system.
In May the national Olympic body's elections were stopped following a High Court injunction by Kenya Taekwondo Association, which had been barred from participating in the exercise.
Other federations barred from the poll owing to wrangles were Kenya Cycling Federation, Kenya Badminton Association and Kenya Canoeing and Rowing Federation.
"I believe it is the right time to hand over the baton to someone else. I have served four terms and that's enough," said Keino, whose last term in office has ended in acrimony after four of his top officials were arrested and charged in court with stealing Kenya team official uniforms at the Rio Olympics in August.
This sets the stage now for former world marathon record holder Paul Tergat to ascend to the top sports body seat, where he has earmarked to redeem Kenya's image on the global sports championship map.
"What I am happy about is that a date has been set for the election. We will all work hard to turn around the fortunes of this country in sports. It is a new beginning and we have a lot of work to do," said Tergat.
IOC suspended funding for sport in Kenya earlier this year after NOCK failed to hold their elections on May 5.
"We need to get new office bearers to take the sport forward. We have a very short time between now and April 2018 to prepare our national teams for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia," said Keino.
