The government has directed sports federations and associations in Kenya to improve their governance systems as part of attracting sufficient investment from the private sector.
The Cabinet Secretary for Sports Salim Mvurya termed the opaque, rigid and unresponsive governance systems as a major impediment for private sector’s involvement in Kenya’s sports sector.
The CS was speaking today at Kasarani during a meeting with officials of over 140 sports federations and associations to streamline the operations of the sports bodies.
While challenging the federations to diversify their revenue streams, the CS disclosed that federations’ overreliance on government funding for all their activities was not sustainable in the long run and needed to be supplemented by strategic funding from the private sector.
“The federations must now diversify their income and revenue sources by partnering with the private sector through adopting good and transparent governance systems,” he said.
He further affirmed the government’s commitment to support federations to create transparent systems that will accelerate the commercialization of the sector. The CS noted that bad governance and never-ending leadership wrangles in federations were responsible for crippling and killing the dreams of talented young athletes across the country.
He encouraged the federations to support the government in talent nurturing and development through utilizing the constituency talents academies.
He added that the government was aware of the transformative power of sports and was currently engaged in the establishment of sports infrastructure as pathways for talent development. He disclosed that apart from middle-level stadia and community, the ministry is collaborating with the Ministry of Defense to construct 30 extra modern stadia in the next one year.
“Talent development requires proper infrastructure. The ministry is putting up 30 modern stadiums in the next one year in compliance with the presidential directive to revolutionize the sports ecosystem in Kenya,” he said.
He stated that the Ministry has established a solid mechanism to promote clean sporting through advocating for anti-doping programs. He said Kenya’s ascendancy as a sporting giant was firmly on course with several transformative programs being currently undertaken.
He said hosting the successful CHAN 2024 tournament remained a beacon of proof of Kenya’s capacity to manage and host international sporting events.
The CS was accompanied by PS Sports Elijah Mwangi and senior officials from Sports State Department, Sports Funds, Sports Registrar, Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya and Sports Dispute Tribunal