Don't let Nairobi hijack Kenya's future

This weekend's stakeholders' meeting in Nairobi threatens to be overshadowed by the ongoing row between the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association and Cricket Kenya which has rumbled on for months.

In short, the NPCA has shown little willingness to amend its constitution, as its then chairman agreed to do in 2005, or to hold any kind of public meetings for almost three years. Its senior executives have almost all walked away, but still the rump remains at the helm and continues to throw up a string of smokescreens.

The ICC is known to be looking on with dismay, as the NPCA's actions means that national elections are now six months overdue.

The NPCA has lately begun to question the authority of the national board to rule over how it is run, even though it is a province affiliated to CK, and to the discredit of the remaining executive, a few individuals have used the media to launch attacks against the CK board in general and Samir Inamdar, the chairman, in particular. They are also asking questions about the CK finances when their own clubs have not seen the NPCA accounts for three years.

Some of the accusations are ridiculous, others scurrilous, but they all have one purpose - to deflect attention from the glaring issues inside the NPCA. Those at the helm of the NPCA know that the more mud they can sling, the greater the disharmony and the better their chances of clinging to office.

It has to be hoped that the stakeholders' meeting does not allow those running the NPCA to drag it into the dirt and that it addresses the more important issues facing Kenyan cricket. If it does, then it should be a most productive two days.

And it also has to be hoped that CK receives the backing of stakeholders to move in and remove the remnants of the NPCA executive and to hold fresh elections as soon as possible. For Kenyan cricket to move forward, it needs a strong NPCA and not one run by people whose only aim is self preservation.