The Government is confident it will deliver on its pre-election
pledges for sports with projects in sports funding, development of a
sports academy and infrastructure upgrading already underway, Deputy
President William Ruto has assured.
The Deputy
President said the implementation of the Sports Act 2013 would pave the
way for development of Kenyan sports across the board.
“In
pushing the law, we were trying to expand the whole sports horizon,
complete with a Sports Lottery that would raise money for the purposes
of funding sports activities so that it (funding) is not only left to
government and other sponsors,” Ruto said in Eldoret on Christmas Eve.
UPGRADING TRACKS
In
their pre-election manifesto, the Jubilee coalition said they would
build five new stadiums in Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret and Garissa
while upgrading existing facilities at county level to accommodate more
sporting disciplines such as swimming and tennis.
Ruto
said they were already working on improving and upgrading the
already-budgeted-for facilities before taking the next step of building
new venues.
“We intend to see more sports stadia coming up so that there are more facilities for people to train,” he said.
“We
are upgrading tracks like the one here in Eldoret (Kipchoge Keino
Stadium) and others that were already budgeted for. We are now working
with county governments to roll out the others.”
Ruto noted that he was impressed with the development of the National Sports Academy in Nairobi.
“The
Sports Academy is almost ready and we put in money to complete it this
financial year and it will take in talented students who, as they attend
school, they can also develop their careers in sports, not only in
athletics and football, but in other sports as well,” Ruto said.
He added that the new legislation would pave way for the flawless funding of sports.
“Now
that the law was passed, we should be completing the assembly of the
Sports Lottery and all other departments that are necessary for the
development of sports in this country,” said Ruto, a self-confessed
Arsenal fan.
Jubilee also pledged in their manifesto to bid to host major sporting competitions.
Already,
Kenya has been chosen to host the 2017 IAAF World Youth Championships
and the 2018 Africa Nations Championships (CHAN), which is a football
tournament along the lines of the Africa Cup of Nations but only open to
players plying their trade within their home countries.
No comments :
Post a Comment