Kenyan Sports
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Election 2007 --> Sports Enthusiasts are also voters As we approach the much anticipated December 2007 elections, there is much discussion about what the government and politicians must do about fighting corruption, creating jobs, equality for women, addressing tribalism etc. The standard election agenda. However the segment of the population who are most ignored by politicians are sportsmen and women as well as sports fans. Sports is at the heart of many Kenyans who turn out in droves to cheer on the national team or their favourite teams. National team matches in sports such as football, rugby, volleyball etc are often well attended by thousands of fans who invest their hopes and emotions in the national team.
The fans who show up to support the national teams and who have invested a significant amount of hopes and emotions in their respective teams have a right to demand support from the government. Sports men and women sacrifice a lot in terms of effort, time and money in order to represent the country well. They deserve to be rewarded for their efforts and most importantly the government should support their aspirations and goals.
Yet despite the passion that Kenyans have for sports, they have often been let down by the government. In fact there have been cases where the government actively sabotaged sports for the sake of political expediency. 1. 1996 Africa Nations cup Kenya was selected by the Confederation of African Football to host the 1996 Africa nations cup. Initially the government of Pres Moi committed to building a new international calibre stadium in Mombasa. As the deadline approached and the government failed to show any commitment, it became apparent that they were not interested in hosting the tournament. Yet instead of pulling out in timely fashion, they held on and kept deceiving the public. Eventually CAF grew tired of waiting, pulled the tournament from Kenya and awarded it to South Africa. Kenya was banned for 2 years and missed both the 1996 and 1998 cup of nations. It turns out the government was unwilling to commit to hosting the tournament because the KFF chairman at the time was opposition politician Job Omino and the government did not want the opposition to get any credit. 2. Lack of funding for airline tickets The Kenya men's basketball team rarely ever qualifies for the continental tournament due in large part to the presence of Egypt in their qualifying zone. Yet in 2004 they had a glorious opportunity to attend the continental cup after Egypt pulled out. They however did not attend because the government refused to pay for airline tickets. The total cost was a paltry ksh 5 million. In 2006 both the men and women's hockey teams qualified for the Africa cup in South Africa. The Kenya hockey union had taken the initiative of collecting half of the money required to make the trip. They had spent months and months training. However they ended up pulling out when the government failed to come up with the balance of the money required of tickets. The two cases mentioned above are just two among many. There are literally dozens of occasions when Kenyan teams have had to pull out due to lack of government support. 3. Lack of support and direction for individual Federations In 2007, the Kenya men's basketball team suffered the humiliation of losing to tiny Rwanda in an African cup qualifier. The defeat was made more painful by the fact that Rwanda are basically new to the game whereas Kenya have been going at it for decades. It turns out that the Rwandese basketball team receives funding from the government of President Kagame who provides funding for player salaries, youth development, expat coaching etc. It was no surprise therefore that they beat Kenya by 10 points. Sometime in the early 90s, the Kenya basketball team actually lost to Somalia. As a peripheral basketball fan it is distrubing to see Kenyans lose to nations like Rwanda who are relatively new to international competition. Considering how much basketball talent is available in the country, this should not be happening. But due to lack of government support and the ineptitude of federation officials, most of that basketball talent is being wasted. 4. Lack of Decent stadia Most Kenyan stadia are small, poorly run and dilapidated. Worse still, no new stadium has been built in Kenya since Kasarani in 1987. Two decades ! The decision by Mr. Kamanda to take over municipal stadia across the country and put them under SSMB management is a step in the right direction. Hopefully the stadia will be upgraded
. Opportunistic Politicians Politicians in Kenya have often used sports especially football to enhance their political careers. These politicians show very little interest in developing their respective clubs and soon dump them once they have accomplished their goals. Cyrus Jirongo became AFC Leopards chairman in 1991. At the time he was awash with cash which he splashed on AFC Leopards, paying enormous salaries to players and officials. Had Jirongo purchased money generating assets for the team, he would have put the team on a firm financial footing and reduced their dependence on politicians. But unfortunately politicians want these clubs to be dependent on them. The same is true for Alfred Sambu, Joab Omino, Joash Wamangoli and other politicians who have funded community clubs in the past. It is due to these politicians that these clubs have been so poorly and incompetently run. Officials like to receive handouts from politicians because they do not have to account for how they use the money. It is due to these politicians that the officials know no other way to fund their clubs other than to stick their hands out and wait for handouts from politicians. What is worse is that some Presidential candidates are now opportunistically targeting sports as a way to boost their campaigns. President Kibaki has recently sponsored the so called Kibaki tena cup. While we applaud The president for donating money to give younstars a chance to keep themselves busy, we know that this is a short term gimmick that will last only until Kibaki is re-elected. We have seen it before with people like Jirongo. Once he is re-elected he will promptly abandon the tourney and leave the players high and dry. Kenyans would rather see a President who is truly committed to remedying the problems afflicting sports in Kenya. Not one who wants to use sports for short term gain.
What sports fans and sportsmen /women must demand from the Government Kenyans are sick and tired of being humiliated by nations like Rwanda or even Egypt for that matter. Thus as the approach 2007 elections we must ask each candidate to address what he or she plans to do not just for sports fans but also for the youth of Kenya who deserve the opportunity to better themselves via sports. Furthermore, Kenyan sports enthusiasts are disappointed that the 2007 budget allocated a lot of money for women and youth but no money was allocated for funding of sports. Stadia need to be upgraded, youth development systems need to be established, players who sacrifice a lot for the country ought to be well compensated. Players need to be motivated to do their best.
The government must do more to elevate the standard of sports in this country. Establish viable youth development schemes, upgrade stadia and other sports facilities, finance local leagues, find legal ways to remove incompetent officials and promote forward thinking officials. Kenyan sports fans would like to see the President appoint a qualified individual as the Permanent secretary in charge of sports. A person with a vision and a passion for sports. Where is the sports policy paper ? The much vaunted sports policy paper which the government has been touting for the past 4 years has never been tabled in Parliament. This policy paper is badly needed and ought to be tabled immediately and turned into law. It was supposed to address among other things, creating long term plans which each federation must adhere and against which they will be measured each year, creating and enforcing accountability rules for each federation and providing financing for federations that are well run and which exhibit financial transparency and accountability. Kenyan sports fans are tired of seeing federation officials who do nothing to move the game forward. See this previous article addresses in detail what Kenyan sports fans should demand from their government. Giving Credit where it is due It is worth noting that over the past 2 years, the government has done a phenomenal job in motivating Kenyan sportsmen by offering rewards to those who win medals. Minister Kamanda also deserves credit for fighting those greedy developers who have been trying to hive off land that belongs to the Kasarani sports complex. However we as fans do not understand why the government cannot simply put a stop to this illicit land grab and expose those responsible. Too much land originally meant for sports grounds has been stolen by greedy developers. Even land belonging to schools has been stolen as is the case with Millimani primary school of Ngong road in Nairobi. Nearly half of its land was hived off in 1993 by of all people, a Religious organization. Kenyans must demand that the government fight this trend. Westlands MP Fred Gumo donated money to help upgrade the City Park stadium which is in his constituency. Three cheers for Mr Gumo ! Sidenote
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