Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba on Thursday, September 7, appeared before the Senate Committee on Labour and Sports.
During the session, CS Namwamba interacted with Nandi Senator Samson Kiprotich Cherargei who is a member of the committee.
The meeting came after weeks of heated debate over the performance of the CS with Senator Cherargei leading the onslaught.
Besides Cherargei, several leaders within the Kenya Kwanza government slammed Namwamba and challenged him to put his house in order.
Namwamba was appearing before the committee to answer to a petition by the County Football Association, regarding the status of Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the general management of football in the country.
In his response, CS Namwamba assured the committee chaired by West Pokot Senator Recha Julius Murgor, that his ministry was firmly in control of sports affairs in the country.
Namwamba stated that through the ministry’s quick interventions, normalcy is gradually returning to the football scene.
“We inherited a football scene in the freezer. A sinking ship, and our first job was to seal the holes and steady the ship before we could proceed to find the compass.
I’m happy to report that we have steadied this ship through our quick interventions, and I’m glad that football activities are now back, FIFA have lifted our suspension and Harambee stars can now play international football,” remarked the CS.
FIFA & Federations
Further, CS Namwamba told the committee and the petitioner that the government was working closely with FIFA to ensure that Kenya fixes the problems facing football activities.
Additionally, he sent a warning to all federations in the country to adhere to good governance, accountability, and respect for the laws of the land.
“The Government does not run sports federations. It is better to fix these problems while we are in motion than when we are stuck and banned,” noted CS Ababu.
As regards to the legal status of FKF, CS reiterated that his ministry had complied with all the requirements of the Kenya’s constitution as well as the Sports Act of 2013.
He said that the government would take nothing short of fidelity to law from the federations.
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Namwamba Appeal
Also, Namwamba called on the legislators to walk with the ministry in supporting the cleaning of the federations’ space in Kenya.
“For us to realize the agenda of better football management in our country, we must clean up the federation and we will clean up these federations. FKF and all other federations must abide by our laws,” he said.
Namwamba explained that his role in the enactment of the Sports Act of 2013 is one of his proudest legacies as a legislature.
Cherargei Attacks
Cherargei on Sunday, August 20, slammed CS Namwamba claiming that he was not helping to save sports in the country.
“Tonight, I echo the sentiments of Hon. Ichung’wah Majority Leader National assembly that Cs Ababu continues to mismanage into oblivion our beloved sports,” Senator Cherargei said.
Furthermore, the vocal issue Senator took issue with Namwamba for not addressing the exploitation of Kenyan female athletes.
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“Our female athletes being exploited sexually and economically! Parliament must summon CS sports to avert disastrous mismanagement of our sports,” the Nandi Senator declared.
Speaking on Spice FM, on Wednesday September 6, Cherargei emphasized that sports management must address challenges of mismanagement, corruption, and lethargy to benefit the country.
Through his social media accounts, Cherargei calimed that sports sector is slowly sliding into oblivion because of well calculated mismanagement, lethargy, and corruption.
He said there was a leadership crisis in the ministry which is expected to bring sanity to the running of sports federations.
The senator noted that biggest loosers were Kenyan sportsmen and sportswomen.
