Kenya Judo Federation (KJF) president Shadrack Maluki will vie for the Africa Judo Union (AJU) chairman’s post during the continental annual general meeting on May 18 in Casablanca, Morocco.
Maluki indicated that his possible election to the continental body will see Kenya benefit immensely from the AJU and International Judo Federation (IJF) projects and programs.
“We shall have a say in the running of the continental affairs with our judokas getting to benefit more from scholarships and high caliber of training,” said Maluki, adding that coaches and umpires too will get advance training and refresher courses.”
Maluki, who is also the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) first vice president, said his election will also speed up the process of having an AJU Regional Development Centre and the IJF Grand Slam in Nairobi.
Maluki was speaking upon the completion of the two-day AJU Consultative Meeting on Sunday evening where several candidates cashed in on the session to pitch their candidatures for several posts.
A total of 25 delegates from 25 countries attended the Consultative Meeting including the current AJU chairman Thierry Siteny from Madagascar, who will be vying for another term.
“We have lagged behind in Judo since the focus has always been on North and West African countries and that is bound to change,” said Maluki.
Maluki revealed that Kenya could even host the Grand Slam that will be known as the Safari Judo Grand Slam this year if the Covid-19 cases will have eased, adding that they are in the process of acquiring land at Kasarani to facilitate the development of the Centre.
If successful, the Centre will be the second in Africa after the one in Casablanca that is currently under construction and due for completion in three months.
Grand Slam is the third most prestigious judo event after the Olympic Games and World Championships.
World cities hosting the other five Grand Slams are Judo Grand Slam Antalya (Turkey), Judo Grand Slam Paris (France), Judo Grand Slam Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Judo Grand Slam Tbilisi (Georgia) and Judo Grand Slam Tel Aviv (Israel).
“We have already engaged the ministry of sports and we are going through some formalities before the land is handed to us officially,” explained Maluki.
“We want to thank Siteny and AJU for picking Nairobi for the Grand Slam and Development Centre, it’s a great honour.”
Siteny said a team will be formed immediately after the AGM in Morocco to work on the modalities of having a successful Grand Slam event in Nairobi.
“It won’t just be about Kenya, but Africa as a whole with the Grand Slam making its entry to Africa for the first time,” explained Siteny, adding that Kenya and Africa have the capacity to host the prestigious event attracting 160 countries. BY DAILY NATION
