After serving the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) as Secretary General for eight years, Francis Mutuku has offered himself for the role of president, once the body goes into elections. The current president Paul Tergat is not eligible to seek re-election after running the constitutional two terms, and he is set to usher a new leadership at the helm of the sports umbrella body in the country.
Mutuku, who served in the Tennis Federation came in as an interim Secretary General after the scandalous Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016. He was brought in to replace then incumbent FK Paul who resigned as he fought a court battle over allegations of funds embezzlement from the Rio Games.
He served as interim for the first term just after Tergat and his team were elected, before he was duly elected in the next elections after the Tokyo Games in 2021.
And now, he hopes to take charge as President, with his ambition being to continue in the legacy of the team he has worked with over the last half decade and three years.
He is set to compete for the top post against Shadrack Maluki from the Kenya Judo Federation. Maluki was the NOCK first vice president under Tergat.
Mutuku had a sit down with Telecomasia.net and revealed his plans and ambitions, and why he wants to succeed Tergat as the new Olympics Kenya boss.
- Why have you made the decision to run for the NOCK presidency?
- I have benefited serving as the NOCK Secretary General for the last eight years and I have worked with a great team of the executive, staff, commissioners and volunteers. Through this period, I have learnt a lot on every aspect of the Olympics body from operations to the sport itself. I have been involved in the day to day running of affairs and I understand how everything operates.
Our wish was that the team which was delivering to continue, but because of the constitutional requirements, we have to elect a new body. As Dr Tergat was exiting, I realized that we needed to continue in the same trajectory we were on and to protect the legacy that we have built over the last eight years. It has been a painstaking process and I know what it cost for us to get here. Any step back would be detrimental.
I feel I have a clear vision of where NOCK should be in the next few years and that is why I offered myself to be the vision carrier and decided to go for the highest seat.
- How has the campaign period been so far?
- The campaigns have been tough. They have been very revealing. It is about learning, unlearning and re-learning about people and service. We have been able to make a very formidable team and one that we believe has a good chance of winning. Most of all we have a team which we believe is equal to the task of leading NOCK and we continue to engage the voters and listen to them.
This is a time when people are frank in what they feel and it is a good yardstick to measure tour performance. It is an opportunity for them to get uninterrupted audience and this is critical for us as a team to get feedback which is very valuable as we seek to implement our plans and manifesto.
We are ready to serve and elevate sports in the country.
- What are some of the promises you have made if you are elected into NOCK?
- The biggest promise is that we will protect and maintain the legacy that we have had. We are on a trajectory of transformation and making an impact in sports in Kenya. Leadership for us is about service and we want to bring this to the people; servant leadership. We must elevate sports and our sportsmen and the entire ecosystem from where they are now. Sports should be able to take them into new positions and new achievements.
- What are some of the key pillars in your manifesto?
- Every area for us is very critical. We are looking at athlete development and elite performance. We need to have more long term plans. The issue of preparing a week or two weeks to a competition should be a thing of the past. We also need to keep supporting our affiliates as NOCK to develop sportsmen. We are also looking at NOCK’s financial stability, We want to be at a place where we can attract and keep sponsorship and partnerships. We need funding to stabilize our operations and ensure we can do more.
We must also incorporate technology in this era of advancements and Artififial Intelligence (AI). As a country, we have the talent. But, we have not delved much into how we can improve this talent with the latest technology. In terms of management, we also need to embrace technology to be more efficient and use the latest tools to bring the best out of ourselves.
- What are some of the lessons you picked during your era as SG that you look to make better as president?
- We would want to make people know that sports is a long term investment and not overnight success. I would want to do better in terms of giving teams better time to prepare and more support. I am more into doing long term projects with our athletes and ensuring that we invest heavily into preparation for more success.
- Finally, the biggest worry for NOCK has always been with the so called ‘small sports’ which always feel sidelined. How do you plan to bring them in and feel part of the body?
- Fortunately, I come from one of the so-called small sports; tennis. We have managed to bridge this gap over the last eight years but we can do more especially in terms of numbers going to the Olympics. We want to try and have more of them qualifying for the 2032 games in Los Angeles and by the time we get to 2036, we should be having them compete for medals.
We want to bring a complete transformation in the approach of management for these so called small sports and they can as well borrow from the big sports. The good thing is that most of them do not require as much funding as the big sports and there we can easily transform them into powerhouses over the next few years.
