Warring factions told to sort out themselves

THE office of the Prime Minister has moved in to arbitrate in the long standing feud in the national athletics federation.The two warring factions which are led by Lt. Alexander Kayitsinga and Louis Rurangirwa were advised by tough talking Eugène Barikana, the Director of Cabinet in the Prime Minister’s Office to first meet and agree on a way forward before holding elections.Initially, election for new office bearers had been scheduled for Sunday, April 29.“This saga has been going on for a long time and it is absolutely useless for both factions to hold elections and have two administrations running one federation.You should first meet and agree on the way forward before holding elections. The Prime Minister’s Office does not want to meddle in your (athletics federation) affairs but wants rules to be respected,” Barikana told both factions on Sunday.Genesis of the wranglesThe saga started after last year’s Kigali Peace marathon where millions were allegedly embezzled and later led to suspensions of officials like former Secretary General Constantin Twajamahoro, vice president Dieudonne Disi and Treasurer Nadine Muterinkindi.However, the trio countered their suspensions and instead blamed the then president of the federation Supt. Gerald Ntare, who was also forced to resign along with another official Louis Rurangirwa.In the ensuring chaos, Sports Minister Protais Mitali instructed the National Olympics Committee to institute an interim committee to run the body as an audit was being carried out to determine how much money was stashed away and bring the culprits to book.DefianceHowever, Sports and Culture Minister Mitali was openly defied by Rurangirwa, who continued to run a parallel administration outside the official federation offices at Amahoro stadium, which led to clashes between him and the National Olympics Committee and officials of the sports ministry.Athletics clubs in the country are also sharply divided between the interim administration led by Kayitsinga and the one headed by Rurangirwa.IAAF silentThe International Association of Athletics Federation, the world’s athletics governing body, is yet to make a decision on the matter despite being aware of it for several months now.Despite several attempts Times Sport could not get hold of Jees Islam, the Senior Manager for Athletics Federations, by press time.The IAAF’s silence has led to both factions claiming recognition from the international body.End to the sagaNevertheless, after nearly a year of bickering, it now looks like the wrangles will come to an end following the intervention from the Prime Minister’s Office with an advice to the warring factions to first put their house in order before holding elections on May 13.According to Sunday meeting’s resolutions, the parties will meet again on Sunday to try to resolve their differences.