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{
    "id": 874773,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/874773/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 328,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mogotio, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Daniel Tuitoek",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13434,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kamuren Tuitoek",
        "slug": "daniel-kamuren-tuitoek"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Sports (Amendment) Bill. The issue of sports is very important. I think worldwide, we know how sports bring a nation together. Here in Kenya, we really excel in sports, specifically athletics. We enjoy athletics at the school and national level. It actually brings together the nation. We have not been doing very well in football. Most of our football teams do not really go far. The challenges facing them have mostly been the issue of funding and management. At least we see rugby giving us a good name. They are currently playing in the rugby sevens world championships, which is actually giving us a good name. We have also been getting good medals in the Olympics. We are also always participants in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) championships. That is why we have great names like Kipchoge Keino and Paul Tergat in athletics, Wanyama in football - he plays for Tottenham Football Club, Rudisha the athlete and many others who are giving us a good name. The potential is great. We have so many youths out there in our constituencies who are involved in sports, especially in football, volleyball, athletics, cross-country, marathon and other sports. It is so important that funding of sports be done in such a way that we streamline the management of sports. It is time to give support to all various sporting activities which are going on in this country. We know our sports infrastructure is very poor except a few which may be eye-catching like the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani. Most of our sports infrastructure is not in good shape. The Bill seeks to establish a kitty towards providing key funding for infrastructure as well as funding of various teams. My only reservation is the wording which has been placed on this Bill such that we are talking about “not exceeding 35 per cent”. When we get to the Committee of the whole House, we want to make it clear that the funding should be at least 35 per cent. It should not read “not exceeding” but read “at least 35 per cent”. We also want to make sure that in this Bill, we cater for our athletes who have done us proud in the past. We see many of our athletes retiring poor. We know of Rono, who is actually languishing in America. At one time, he was a world record holder, but now he is a watchman. We are seeing Kadenge in his last days. He is struggling with health. There is Ben Jipcho and many others. We urge the Committee to bring an amendment that will ensure that we create a medical insurance fund for all the athletes so that when they retire in their later years, they are able to live in a good environment and get health coverage. We are thinking about universal healthcare but for now we have not reached there. So, we need to provide for our sportsmen and sportswomen. The Fund will also go a long way in providing for youth development. The NG-CDF can also be expanded. The Committee should look at expanding the sources of money for this Fund. We have only talked of lotteries and betting. We should think about raising some money to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}