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    "id": 1354077,
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    "content": "weekend, fix an appointment at short notice and they will really assist to accelerate issuance of visa. We have not had any situation or case in the last one year where any of our athletes has failed to honour an international obligation either because of delay in passport or issuance of visa. I want to assure this House that we will continue to be vigilant, alert and available to support our sports men and women to access passports and visa on time. I can disclose here that we have also submitted to Cabinet a request that our top sports men and women be considered for special issuance of diplomatic visa and access to certain spaces, which can ease their movement. The top sport men and women who really do an amazing job of branding and marketing Kenya like nothing else does. Indeed, Kenya’s top export to the world is our sports men and women. They do more to brand and market Kenya than anything else. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, on the second question, on athletes and how they manage their finances; it is depressing to see some of the biggest names in our sports suffer greatly in retirement. Last year, among my first acts after being named Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports was to travel to Kericho to lay to rest the first man to win an Olympic medal for Kenya; Mr. Wilson Kipugut Arap Chumo. We laid this great Kenyan at the age of 84 after a truly shameful life in retirement. We can say that about many former sportsmen and women who upon retirement lead truly difficult lives. We are making interventions and working closely with Athletics Kenya. Among those interventions is a programme that we are working out together with the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). Under this programme, we provide investment intelligence to sportsmen and women. We customize training packages for sportsmen and women on how to manage their finances better, how to invest better, be finance savvy and be in a position where they can take better care of their finances. The shelf life of your average sportsman and woman is about 10 years. It is a very short shelf life. Before you know it, the gravy train has stopped and you are at retirement. We are using this programme to prepare them for that. I am also pleased to inform this House that on the 30th of this month, a few days from today, we will be launching Kenya's first-ever pension scheme for athletes. The athletes will have a pension programme where they can put in some resources. The Government will also put in some resources to provide a programme where after retirement, they will have some pension benefit just like any other salaried Kenyan. We have also started a process in the Ministry to develop a social security policy for our veteran sportsmen and women. These will include sensitization of all stakeholders, athletes and the veterans. We are putting together a programme where we can make good use of our retired sportsmen and women. The ongoing Talanta Hela Programme, for instance, has tapped into retired sportsmen and women as scouts. They are providing their services as scouts in the programme of spotting and developing young talents."
}