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{
    "id": 1556331,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556331/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 273,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, I continue to be a proud member of the ODM party. Our Secretary General, Sen. Sifuna, has consistently demonstrated remarkable acumen through his substantial contributions to this House. His vision is evident not only in his support for ideas brought forward by others, but also in his leadership on impactful legislation that have an impact in our society today. Matters related to sports are often trivialized in this country largely due to the lack of proper infrastructure and governance in the sector. While there are a few organizations focusing on popular sports, the broader case for funding and even the business potential of sporting activities remains elusive. This has hindered progress to the extent that it is challenging to even consider equitable access by gender. In this country, women have struggled to find their footing in certain sports yet, on the global stage, women are thriving in these same sports, turning them into viable business ventures. Sports in this country have largely been left to community programmes, often organized under what we popularly refer to as clubs. For example, in my community in Migori County, you will find clubs in Ombo K’owiti, where about 21 or 22 volunteers gather to chase a ball they call football. They organize themselves into competitions and their neighbors in Nyatike do the same. If you go to Kuria West, Rongo or Suna East and Suna West, you will observe similar grassroots efforts, with people forming clubs and independently organizing football matches. This locally-driven movement in sports is what ultimately shapes and contributes to the broader national vision for sports in this country. By and large, it is evident that even when Harambee Stars plays football abroad, the young men and women representing us, whether in the starlet teams or the male Harambee Stars team, are individuals who have struggled in the locally organized sports programmes to find their footing. This is the first time that Sen. Sifuna is making an attempt to ensure that unlike the anecdotal investments we often see highlighted in the Ministry of Sports such as Talanta Hela, Sports Academy or initiatives to empower organizations like FKF, we are having a Bill that recognises the acumen of our society and the DNA or our organisation in sports. It appreciates that sports are organised in local communities; from the communities, sometimes to our local schools and at the university level. Therefore, we need to invest in promotion of sports in this country. Sen. Sifuna proposed that for the money we are sending to the counties, we should save just one per cent as a good start to make sure that we invest in making proper infrastructure for sports in our country. This is something that I strongly support. I hope it will help us to build conversations. I believe Rt. Hon Raila Amolo Odinga is the leader of the largest party south of Sahara and north of Limpopo. That is the ODM Party. Sen. Sifuna will tell you that Hon. Raila Odinga has been campaigning about how we can rethink the issue of devolution. Yesterday we talked about period poverty in this country. The manifest of that problem happens in our schools. When you look at where sports are being nurtured at an early age and where you can arrest talent, you will find that they manifest in our schools. Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga has argued a case that, had the fathers of devolution seen it fit, they would have allowed education to be devolved because that is the place we can invest more in sporting. That is where we can arrest more talent and bring them to the national theatre of sporting. I do not want to bring that conversation now. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, my comment today will be one. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services, Senate."
}