By Jejje Muhinde;
Algeria’s Mustapha Berraf has been re-elected as President of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) after defeating challenger and Burundi’s Lydia Nsekera in Tuesday’s election at the organization’s General Assembly in Cairo.
Berraf, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member who became President in 2018, will serve a second four-year term.
He was re-elected with 38 votes as Burundi’s Nsekera tallied 15.
Both candidates stood for the position in 2018 too, which ended with Berraf winning by 34 votes to 20.
The Algerian succeeded long-serving Ivorian President Lassana Palenfo, who spent 13 years at the helm and was first elected in 2005.
Nsekera announced her intention to run again on March 31, vowing to “restore the image” of ANOCA and suggesting the governing body needed a “different approach”.
The Burundi National Olympic Committee President ran on a campaign promising transparency and good governance, something she was critical of in the current regime.
On the eve of the election, Nsekera accused the 67-year-old Berraf of breaching the organization’s ethics rules.
She claimed her rival had attempted to “discredit” her and had used “unacceptable” tactics to try to “gain the sympathy of voting members”
