Full in-tray, fresh vision: Bernard Murunga promises fair play at the Sports Disputes Tribunal
New chairman of the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT), Bernard Murunga, who was sworn into office on Monday, reckons he has what it takes to steer the quasi-judicial body to the next level.
The Nairobi-based lawyer was appointed to the post on June 4, taking over from fellow lawyer, John Ohaga, who had served two five-year terms from 2014.
Murunga, who is also the chairman of Simba and Simba Advocates Board, served as a member of the SDT from 2023 until his recent elevation.
He has served in dispute resolutions in sports, particularly football, since 2016.
“I have the experience, having transited from a member where I served for two years under Ohaga to head the tribunal,” said Murunga.
“Ohaga has made it easier for us with his jurisprudence and expertise and we hope to build on that to make Kenyan sport disputes free in terms of fair rulings and counsel,” said Murunga, a former AFC Leopards deputy secretary general and also a former football referee.
Murunga, 50, said he is looking forward to a fully constituted tribunal of nine members after the departure of six members in May this year.
The SDT currently has only two sitting members - Murunga and Allan Mola Owinyi.
The positions of Njeri Onyango, Elynah Shiveka, Gabriel Ouko, Mary Kimani, Edmond Kiplagat and Peter Ochieng, whose terms expire in May, have not been filled.
The Judicial Service Commission has duly advertised for the positions.
Murunga was a member of the Football Kenya Federation Disciplinary and Appeals Committee from 2016.
“Those are nine years in dispute resolution, so I have some good experience,” he said.
But Murunga has a full in-tray of cases to determine from the perpetually wrangling Kenyan sports federations and doping issues.
Among the SDT’s latest high-profile determinations are the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) election cases that were appealed at the High Court in Nairobi, Eldoret and Bomet.
Kenya Taekwondo Federation, Kenya Handball Federation, Kenya Triathlon Federation, Kenya Volleyball Federation and Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) appealed against being barred from participating in the NOC-K elections on April 24 for allegedly violating election rules.
In one of the NOC-K rules, federations must decide who carries their vote, with both the chairman and secretary signing their consent. However, the chairmen and secretaries of these federations could not agree on who to vote for in the NOC-K polls.
In most of the rulings, the SDT told the federations to adopt their internal mechanism to solve their issues, ordering the elections to proceed.
SDT also recently barred the Kenya Table Tennis Association from participating in the rescheduled elections that were called afresh on June 19, ruling that the sports body was operating illegally.
Triathlon, handball and table tennis appealed the ruling at the High Court in Eldoret, while Table Tennis filed a case at the High Court in Bomet.
The Sports Dispute Tribunal was formed in 2013 following the enactment of the Sports Act.
It is a subordinate court as defined by Article 169 of the Constitution of Kenya and was formed to handle appeals against decisions made by national sports organisations, including disciplinary cases.
It also hears appeals from the Sports Registrar. The SDT is empowered to determine doping cases under the Anti-Doping Act.