Tunisia's Khaled Babbou was elected ex officio as the new President of Rugby Africa unopposed at the weekend in Marrakech, Morocco as the overseer of the game in the continent held its 13th General Assembly.
Babbou will head the Executive Committee (ExCo) by taking the mantle from Morocco's Abdelaziz Bougja who served African Rugby as President for the last 17 years.
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Babbou will be deputized by Uganda's Andrew Owor who also came on board unopposed. It was well documented that outgoing Kenya Rugby chief Richard Omwela, a member of Rugby Afrique's ExCo in the last eight years, had zeroed in on this position.
“I’m very glad that the elections went on well and that most of the countries accepted our nominations and gave us the mandate to lead Rugby Africa for the next four years. We think with our strategy we can work together with all the different members of Rugby Africa and we can accelerate the growth of the game on the continent,” commented the newly elected Vice-President Andrew Owor.
Tano Elvis (Ivory Coast) and Jurie Roux (South Africa) were also picked as the Treasurer and Secretary General unopposed, respectively.
Seven others members, as voted in by 27 voting members, were elected by secret ballot to the ExCo.
Kenya's Paula Lanco, Rolande Boro (Burkina Faso), Aaron Jani (Zimbabwe), Clement Sinkamba (Zambia), Nasser Bougja (Morocco), Herman M’Bonyo (DRC) and Guedel N’Diaye (Senegal).
Summary of the elections
The officers of the Executive Board are elected ex officio, unopposed:
President: Khaled Babbou (Tunisia)
Vice President: Andrew Owor (Uganda)
Treasurer: Tano Elvis (Ivory Coast)
Secretary General: Jurie Roux (South Africa)
Executive Committee:
Rolande Boro (Burkina Faso) with 26 votes
Aaron Jani (Zimbabwe) with 25 votes
Clement Sinkamba (Zambia) with 23 votes
Nasser Bougja (Morocco) with 22 votes
Herman M’Bonyo (DRC) with 21 votes
Paulina Lanco (Kenya) with 19 votes
Guedel N’Diaye (Senegal) with 18 votes
At the assembly, Egypt unanimously accepted as a new affiliate of Rugby Afrique.
Additional reporting by Rugby Afrique
