Long standing NPCA official David “Maji” Waters has announced his resignation as NPCA secretary with immediate effect citing personal and business commitments. Waters, who has been involved with the NPCA since its inception, will not be standing for re-election during the upcoming AGM. His resignation will be a big loss to the Nairobi cricket fraternity, though he will maintain his connections and duties with the game through club side Kongonis and as selector for the national team.

In a letter stating his resignation, he says he feels:

“…immensely privileged to have served an organisation that has pioneered the structured running of cricket in our province and also been instrumental in supporting the extraordinary progress made by our national team over the past decade.”

Proud of his time with the NPCA and what he has achieved with them he notes that he always acted:

“…in what I believed to be the best interests of both cricket in our province and also cricket in Kenya”.

A strong believer in youth development, this is shown most strongly in the success of the Kongonis development project that has produced players like Alex Obanda and Elijah Otieno. With the extra time available without the administrative duties, Waters is keen to take the project even further and encourages others to put the same effort into other junior programs:

“Anyone who loves the game must support a focus on youth development both at school and club level.”

“To those who doubt that fine young players exist in Kenya, look no further than the achievements over the past 18 months of Hiren (Varaiya), Tanmay (Mishra), Elijah (Otieno) and Alex (Obanda). They are the examples that should encourage us to take courage, invest in the youth and have faith that given the right exposure Kenyan youngsters can indeed take their place on the world stage.”

NPCA’s loss may well turn out to be Kongonis' gain and with it will improve the youth set up within Kenya as others follow suit so they are not overtaken and left behind. Perhaps both the NPCA and Cricket Kenya would have done well to encourage him to look at their own provincial/national development programs. Maybe it is not too late.

As he moves on, Waters wishes the incoming committee the best, but makes a candid comment on the politicking in the sport when he says:

“I wish the new committee all the very best and assure you of my support as an individual and also as the current chairman of Nairobi Club and Kenya Kongonis, for any genuine and unpartisan efforts to take the game forward.
If we all put our club and community loyalties to one side for the sake of taking the game forward a bright future is in stall for Kenyan cricket.”

It is a big call and a correct one. Divided Kenyan cricket will go nowhere, united it will go far. Hopefully the magnitude of losing such a devoted servant to the game will make others in the NPCA realise that it is indeed the game that matters, not their petty differences. Without Waters and his experience, there will be an extra load on those who step in to fill the void. Here’s hoping that whoever does is as committed and passionate about cricket and the country as David Waters. He will be missed.