Kenya’s Wanjiru elected Vice President of African tennis body

Wanjiru Mbugua Karani, the Secretary General of Tennis Kenya, has been elected as the President of Eastern Africa (Zone IV). This appointment also makes her one of the Vice Presidents of the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT).

In the second round of voting, Wanjiru secured six votes compared to the five votes received by Mahamoud Zayya from Comoros.

After the first round of voting, both candidates were tied with five votes each, with one vote being marked as spoiled.

Wanjiru, a former team player and captain for Kenya, takes over from Patrick Gichira as the Zone IV President and CAT Vice President. Gichira did not seek re-election after serving for 12 years in these positions.

After winning the elections overseen by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) president David Haggerty, Wanjiru expressed her gratitude for being elected and pledged to serve her national federation, Eastern Africa, and the continent to the best of her abilities in order to promote the growth of the sport.

Zone IV includes Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Comoros.

Benin’s Jean Claude Talon emerged as the President after receiving 25-12 votes in the second round, defeating Nelson Amanze from Botswana.

The first round of voting was closely contested, with Talon receiving 16 votes, followed by Nelson Amanze from Botswana with 12 votes, and Issa Mboup from Senegal with 9 votes.

Talon, who is the brother of Benin President Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon, takes over from Tarak Cherif of Tunisia, who held the position for 20 years.

The CAT Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held in Nairobi and brought together 38 delegates from the 54-member countries.