Kenyan former Olympic official has his 17-year graft conviction overturned

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - A Kenyan court on Thursday quashed a 17-year jail term for former National Olympics Committee of Kenya official Stephen Arap Soi over alleged corruption.

Soi, who oversaw Team Kenya's participation in the 2016 Rio Olympics, was accused of stealing and accepting kickbacks from foreign sportswear manufacturers.

A judgement rendered by Kenya's anti-corruption High Court Justice Esther Maina on Thursday noted that Soi's sentence from a lower court had been overturned and he was to be set free immediately.

"The court has found merit in the appeal and it has allowed it, quashed the conviction and set aside the sentence and directed that Soi be released, set at liberty forthwith unless otherwise lawfully held," Justice Maina ruled.

Justice Maina said the trial magistrate did not take into account Soi's defense and that the court would have reached a different decision had his defense been taken into account.

During the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 55 million Kenyan shillings ($450,000) was supposed to go toward housing and supplies for Kenyan athletes. Instead, the Olympic chief is accused of misappropriating the funds.

Soi denied the claims, saying no funds were lost and accused the magistrates of bias.

He was charged along with two other Kenyan Olympics Committee members, Pius Ochieng and Francis Kinyili Paul, who were acquitted by the trial magistrate.

Since being sentenced on Sept. 16, 2021 by Chief Magistrate Elizabeth Juma in Milimani, Nairobi, Soi has been serving his sentence at the Kamiti Maximum Prison.

At the summer Rio Olympics, Kenyan athletes complained of being mismanaged, as some missed their flights as they were never booked, while others faced problems with accommodation and sportswear.

Kenya responded by disbanding its Olympics committee over what the government called an “embarrassment.”

Despite the hiccups, Kenyan athletes managed to bring home 13 medals in total: six gold, six silver and one bronze.