Africa-Press – Kenya. Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has promised to restructure the Sports Fund to make it more accessible and beneficial to local teams and sports personalities. Namwamba says that the Treasury’s rules have resulted in 60 percent of the Sports Fund being allocated to other sectors.
“Today, sports is only entitled to 35 percent of this fund and the arts only five percent, and often, I hear even those percentages are not remitted to those two important departments,” Namwamba said.
The CS promised to take a fresh look at the whole issue. Namwamba said if the original goal of the Sports Fund was to accelerate the growth of the sports industry, then the priority should go to providing support to that specific area.
“The sports art and social development fund are important. I had the privilege of conceiving this fund nine years ago when I was the sports minister. The fund has since undergone some metamorphosis,” Namwamba said.
“One of the sad outcomes of that metamorphosis is that resources that should principally be directed toward sports and the arts have ended up supporting other aspects of government.”
He said discussions are already underway at the appropriate levels about how the ministry can benefit more from the Sports Fund because it is based on activities within its scope.
“I believe once that process of re-looking at the architecture of the fund is completed, we should be able to have a better framework to support the activities of the ministry.
Kenyan teams could be spared financial woes if Namwamba fulfills his promise. National teams tasked with holding down the fort for the country in various sports disciplines have failed to honor international matches due to a lack of funds.
For example, in 2019, Gor Mahia players slept on the cold floor of Doha International Airport on their way to Morocco to face RS Berkane in the second leg of the CAF Confederations Cup quarter-finals.
The Morans almost missed out on a trip to Egypt for their FIBA World Cup qualifiers after failing to secure funding from the Ministry of Sports. Fortunately, they got a breakthrough when the world basketball body, FIBA, intervened in good time.
The national women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers would have missed going to Brazil for a two-month camp if the betting company, Mozart Bet had not intervened at the right time.
A similar situation befell the national 15-a-side rugby team, the Kenya Simbas, who were unable to finance their 2023 World Cup qualifying trip to France in June until Teita Sisal Estates came to their rescue.
Ababu has admitted that getting money for sports has always been a headache. However, he believes the right laws can positively change the situation of Kenyan teams, adding that he had already gained a lot of influence by pushing for the approval of the Sports Law.
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