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"id": 64184,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Lessonet",
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"legal_name": "Moses Lessonet",
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"content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. From the outset, I want to attempt to define sportsmen and sportswomen. These are Kenyans involved in such sports as rugby, athletics, football, table tennis and swimming, among others. I want to take this opportunity to specifically recognize those who have succeeded to carry the flag of this country to new heights in terms of sports and more so, the athletics teams who have always made sure that they brought so many gold, silver and bronze medals to this country. This Motion is in recognition of the fact that these sportsmen and sportswomen spend just about five years or a maximum of ten years in sports before retiring. On retirement, most of the time, they end up being paupers. I hope that after we pass this Motion today, those Kenyans who have succeeded in taking this country to new heights will continue to live a decent life and be able to support their immediate families and live the same life they were living 10 years before they retired. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, even if this Motion will not directly attract financial support by the Government to these retired sportsmen and sportswomen, I hope in their active running time, they will be trained on financial management. You will realize that most of these sportsmen and sportswomen earn quite reasonable amounts of money when they are running. However, due to poor financial management skills and also knowing the expectations we have on these athletes back home, when somebody has won a gold medal, for example, in the Grand Prix, by the time she or he lands at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), you will see so many busload of people coming to welcome the athlete. Those people you see at JKIA, are not just there to celebrate the gold medal, but they also want their pockets to be lined up by these athletes. If we were to train these Kenyans on financial management so that they can wisely invest their earnings, invest in property or stock market this would ensure that after retirement they will still be able to enjoy a stream of income from their investments. I hope this Motion will trigger the interest of the Government to make sports an enterprise. We want this Government to explore ways through this Motion of generating money, not necessarily from the Exchequer, the Treasury or taxes, but the Government should explore ways in which it can make sports a very huge enterprise. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will realize that on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, we are glued to our television sets watching the Barclays Premier League because out there, in the UK, that is definitely, a very huge enterprise. You will be surprised about the income generated from sports in the UK. If this Motion can trigger the Government to make sports like rugby and athletics big enterprises, it will not lack money to support the athletes after their retirement."
}