Webuye East Member of Parliament and Chairman National Assembly’s Sports and Culture Committee Daniel Wanyama revealed that the funding package for Team Kenya will in the near future entail lengthy and quality preparations, hence improved conditions in the entire sporting ecosystem.
Wanyama added that the Kenya Kwanza government has “a series of far-reaching reforms that will catapult the business of sports in the country to desirable levels.
Increased investment across all sporting disciplines, Wanyama reiterated that it will support athletes in their preparations for future games including allowing athletes to attend extra competitions in the international calendar which are essential to qualification for Olympics and other gigantic events.
Speaking from Budapest, Hungary during the World Athletics Championships, Wanyama, a former Kenya volleyball Men’s team skipper continued: “I want to give an assurance that any championship that Kenya will participate in, in all disciplines, will be better prepared. Sometimes success is not just about allowances, it is how we invest to prepare the teams to get to this level.”
Wanyama added: “Allowances will always be forthcoming, but then again, if you don’t prepare a team adequately, it will not give you the result you want, so we must go back to the drawing board and say we have adequate time in training for us to get results.”
Wanyama wants all federations in the country to be proactive and run sports a lot more professionally. He cited the swimming federation where parents were interfering with the administrative facet of the federations.
“As the Kenya Kwanza government, we have said that it will no longer be business as usual. It’s not just giving narratives and there is nothing we do about it. What Kenya has displayed here in Budapest is individual effort. All federations must submit their calendar requests early to enable the ministry to plan ahead and accordingly.”
Wanyama also reiterated President William Ruto’s commitment towards development of sports adding: “Even the funds that are being collected from betting will now go to the Sports Fund to take care of our sportsmen and women in this country. And as an oversight committee, we will ensure that there is a culture change in how we handle sporting matters.”
–Increment of Allowances—
Wanyama had conversations with athletes in Budapest to help address their challenges. He promised that the allowances for athletes will be sorted in due course. He added that the increment of allowances is a clear indication where Kenya Kwanza government is headed in terms of sports development.
Wanyama expounded that the issues and challenges that the athletes have raised were actually very valid.
“But I think it was just a misconception because normally, the allowances have been around 60 dollars but then the ministry had upgraded the same to 200 dollars.”
“And therefore, those who created the account went with the earlier rates and forgot that the PS had approved an above amount to 200 dollars which the PS has now instructed the officers to top it the difference.”
“And from our conversations with athletes, they are comfortable and even the local allowances will be sorted out because they are upgraded from 1000 to 3000 per day. And therefore, those who didn’t travel to Budapest with the team will be able to get something.”
