Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1556318,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556318/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 260,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "that we need to strengthen some of the monitoring and evaluation criteria that we have provided for under the Act. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not want to go further than that. As I said, it is a straightforward amendment. We are hoping that we can convince Members, because I know many here are very passionate about sports. I know they recognize the potential for sports, not only as an income earner for our young people in the estates and villages, but also as an important pastime to be able to engage young people and dissuade them from engaging in what would otherwise be bad behaviour. I have attended tournaments here. I have attended a football tournament in Kamukunji. I saw the talent. However, the state of the pitch there is pathetic. If these youths were provided with sufficient facilities, I think they would go far. Many of us have seen the sort of opportunities that are there for people who have talent in the arts or even in sports to lift their families and communities out of poverty. I think you remember the excitement of the first person to ever play in the Premier League. When Wanyama went to Tottenham, we were all very excited. If one looks at the sort of money that is in play in those circumstances, it is an opportunity that we are sitting on as a country. I had the occasion also to attend a boxing match one time here. There was a Tanzanian who used to be very loudmouthed and he was fighting one of our local boys here. It was a proper spectacle. If you went to KICC on that night you found the whole place totally full of boxing fans. People might not see the potential for these things. I believe that we can do something, so that this talent mashinani does not go to waste. We must give them some dignity. They cannot all the time be moving around with begging bowls, yet we have a responsibility to support them. Most importantly, they are also taxpayers. You cannot decide where you will spend our taxes to the exclusion of other people. Counties have a responsibility to build or develop sporting facilities and many of them are struggling to do it. Here in Nairobi, we are struggling with the City Stadium, Joseph Kang’ethe Grounds and Kihumbu-ini. It is a mess, but we are hoping that at least for the associations. These people would not mind. If you go to Woodley, they told me that they do not care the nature of the surface they are playing on. They just want the county government to open this facility, so that they can use it. They need support just to buy basic facilities, pay referees and do the basic things that they are required to do in order to compete. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to move, and request that Senator Osotsi, the Senator for Vihiga to second."
}