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{
"id": 1563528,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1563528/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Osotsi",
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"legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
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"content": "constituencies in Kenya. I am happy that my Motion was passed and the Ministry of Sports made some steps to try and implement the vision that I had in it. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is taking a long time to fully realize that vision. I know we have the Kenya Sports Academy, which is in Kasarani, but the plan was to have regional sports academies and thereafter, have county sports academies and constituency sports academy. I know some budget has been appropriated in this programme, but very little is happening on the ground. In my county, we had a fanfare and launched the Joe Kadenge Sports Academy. However, if you go there right now, very little is happening there. We must remove the notion that a sports academy must be an issue of brick and mortar, putting up structures and all that. We need to focus more on the soft side of the sports academy. We have schools which already have facilities for sports. These can naturally become sports academies. In our Western region, we have Kakamega High School, Chavakali High School, Musingu High School and Kamusinga High School. These schools are known for excelling in sports and can naturally be identified as centres of sports excellence. The Government can then provide coaches, trainers, sports medics and psychologists. They can also provide other facilities like training kits and all manner of merchandise that is used in sports. The fixation with the idea that a sports academy has to be brick and mortar, where buildings have to be set up and all that is what is delaying us from actualizing the good idea of having a sports academy. We need to use the facilities which exist at the moment. We should only provide the software required in these facilities then we will make progress. If you go to countries that have excelled in sports academies such as the West African countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon, you will realise that they do not necessarily have places that they call sports academy. They use the existing facilities. Sports academies should not just be about sports alone. We need to have some formal learning happening in those academies. Mr. Temporary Speaker, that naturally means that we adapt existing schools into sports academies by providing the necessary facilities and resources. This approach would be the most convenient and speedy way to implement sports academies. As we discuss amending the Sports Act to incorporate sports academies, we must ask ourselves: how will these academies be funded? When I previously contributed to the Bill by Sen. Sifuna, I said that it was so unfortunate that the Uhuru Government decided to delete the entire Section 12 of the original Sports Act, which provided for the National Sports Fund. It was replaced with the Public Finance Management Regulation 2018, through Legal Notice No.194. This happened because the then Government’s realized that the Sports Fund had attracted a lot of money, from taxes and levies on betting, lotteries, and other sources. Consequently, the Government decided to come up with an amendment to delete the entire Section 12 that called for the creation of the National Sports Fund. Instead, they introduced a new entity; the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund, through regulations under the Public Finance Management framework, 2018. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}