Mother of all sports awards in Kenya will give kshs 1,000,000 for the sports person of the year at the 2016 Sports Personality of the Year Award (SOYA) to be staged early next year.
The annual gala which enters its 13th year will take place on 20th January 2017 at Carnivore grounds.
The event, which initially had 6 categories, they have increased to 17 categories in various sporting disciplines as well as individuals, federations, coaches, persons with special needs and community heroes across the country.
Kenya in 2016, registered a successful outing in various sporting events, starting from Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Kenya Rugby 7s prowess in IRB Sevens in Singapore after winning the meeting title against Fiji, athletics.
Speaking during the kshs 16 million prize for logistics among others, Safaricom’s Director of of Strategy and Innovations Joseph Ogutu said the year has been outstanding for Kenyan sports persons and have to appreciate their hard work and efforts and they will be rewarded to benefit their achievements. \
“Despite the obvious challenges in management of sports in the country, our commitment remains strong through our investment. We have supported this initiative for the 13 years running by investing well.
With this year’s theme ‘Inspiring Greatness’ seeks to motivate sports men and women to remain focused and resilient while training, competing and mentoring others.
“We want to show our gratitude by encouraging young people to train and become professional athletes which will enable us to support more homegrown talents and have platform from which we can celebrate our sports people at home in front of their families, friends and fans,” added Ogutu.