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{
"id": 1399383,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1399383/?format=api",
"text_counter": 87,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
"slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
},
"content": "Even though the country was represented by several sporting disciplines, including hockey and volleyball, inexplicably, the women's Rugby Sevens team was not facilitated to travel. Unfortunately, this happened in the backdrop of the upcoming Repechage Tournament, scheduled for Monaco in June, 2024, at which the Lionesses will be staging one last fight to secure an Olympic ticket to Paris 2024. The Accra Africa games would have been a perfect opportunity to sharpen their bite and build momentum towards the Paris Olympics, starting in July this year. For decades since Independence, the sport has provided a serene break from the challenges of life bedeviling Kenyans as a source of entertainment, national pride and a symbol of unity. Indeed, some of the most celebrated Kenyans are top sportsmen, past and present, in an immaculate cast that includes but is not limited to, Kipchoge Keino, J.J. Masiga, Eliud Kipchoge, Denis Oliech, Collins Injera, Michael Olunga and Steve Tikolo. There is no gainsaying that sports has created genuine young millionaires and genuinely credible Kenyan celebrities because it remains the perfect avenue for true talent. However, the decline of Kenyan sports of all cadres in recent years is an indictment on the part of the Government, the federations and the unions. There was a time when Kenyans could watch the Steeplechase confidently, expecting a clean podium sweep, or long-distance athletics with the nonchalant belief that we would win all medals on offer. As for football, the good times remain back in the 70s and 80s. Cricket was once a World Cup-level game in this land, but all that is history now. Just last season, the Kenya Sevens Rugby team, “Shujaa ”, was relegated from the core International Rugby Board (IRB) Rugby Circuit. It is difficult to tell whether they will make a swift return or like their compatriots in other sports, fade into obscurity and consign their long appearance in the circuit to history books. It is a story as sad as it is tragic. With regard to the exclusion of the Kenya Lionesses from the Africa Games, the Kenya Rugby Union, the Sports Council, and the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports have all shown disturbing levels of incompetence, a failure to learn from the past and a shocking inability to comprehend the gravity of matters within their purview. While Kenyans parade in front of their TV sets every weekend to follow foreign sports, it is lost on those who manage local sports that the commercial and socio-cultural success that comes with this big following is a product of investment, focus and ambition, which they lack here at home. Tragically, this trajectory portends a scenario where soon all forms of sports will collapse in the country. As the Senator of the capital city of the country, where youth unemployment is at crisis levels, I am often confronted by the critical need to develop sports, so that it can provide employment opportunities for the young residents of this city. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the infrastructure and management of sports rely heavily on the national Government, county governments, federations and unions, which have to do better. The saga facing the Lionesses is a microcosm of the issues in sports in general. It is my honest hope that the authorities will arrest the decline before all hope is lost."
}