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"content": "(Sen. Sifuna on 16.4.2025 - Afternoon Sitting)"
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"content": "(Resumption of debate interrupted on 16.4.2025 - Afternoon Sitting)"
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Mumma",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
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"content": " Sen. Oketch, you had a balance of 15 minutes."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, yesterday I was interrupted by the aspiring Senator from Kwale because of quorum. Being a sky team member, probably he was trying to catch a flight. I am glad that today his flight will not be interfered with. He is around and looks very excited to contribute."
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mumma",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Senator, please focus on what you should do."
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"text_counter": 228,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "That is on a light note. 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."
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"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1558408/?format=api",
"text_counter": 229,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, this is a fantastic Bill that was sponsored by the great Senator for Nairobi City County. Just to recap, the Senator for Nairobi is working round the clock to make sure that one per cent of the money that our counties receive is dedicated to a sports fund within counties. He wants to see sports organisations that are registered, whether individually or as a group, benefit from some sort of funding by county governments in a predictable way that allows them to be organised and participate in different sports. As I do a recap, yesterday I intimated that, indeed, sporting has been left to grow like seeds, upon sowing, that grew among thorns surviving on their own. If you cast your eye on sporting activities in this country, sports thrive in three ways. The first one is organically through community organisations that support some form of sports here and there. Secondly, sports thrive within our schooling system, be it primary or secondary schools and then university level. You will notice that the higher level of education you go, the more sports start dwindling. That is because investment in terms of both management, funding, infrastructural support and professionalization of sports becomes a problem. That means that there is nothing as devolved by the DNA of our own country in terms of our own organisation as sports. The problem is that we have not seen the commercial viability or the business case for sports in our country to the extent that we have left local organisation of sports to just take an organic format. This is one of the ways of making sure that we enable sports to thrive as a case that is economically viable mode of belonging in our country that in some ways can uptake a swath of young people who do not get economic opportunities in this country. What do I mean by this? If you were to have a bird’s eye view on the issue of sports in our country, you will realise that the most popular sports are the ones that get a bit of attention; not enough attention to make them thrive. For instance, athletics gets a bit of attention because there is no proper investment infrastructure that is needed to support grassroots level organisation of athletes to enable them grow to the national level. The second one is soccer. Everybody in this country will agree that if you cast your eye upon what brings us together even among communities, you will realise that there is some form of semblance of organisation in sports investment in this country. Thumbs up to Gor Mahia FC, AFC Leopards, Police FC, Mathare United FC and all the teams that form our premier league. If you look at other sports that involve the other gender, especially the women who are sometimes excluded from some of physically hard sports like soccer, there is no attention to that. So, allowing this fund to take root in our grassroots communities will be the beginning of organising and investing in sports management and ensuring that we have a paradigm shift in the way we invest in sports. Currently, when young people in Narok County want to play soccer during their holiday, the only way they can do so is to have their sports time and enjoy the game while also building their professional capacities is to call Sen. Olekina and ask for financial support for sports activities. If they are in Nandi, it is even worse. I have sat 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."
},
{
"id": 1558409,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1558409/?format=api",
"text_counter": 230,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "with Sen. Cherarkey. They call Sen. Cherarkey to pay the referees of the matches. It is even worse in Nairobi City County where we should be having better sporting academies. Sometimes when the pockets of my sister, Sen. Mutinda, a nominated Member, run dry, she tells me that there are young girls who want to go and play netball, but they cannot access some field. I have to dig in my pocket and become a charitable donor to my wonderful Senator to support her to make sure that people can access a field to do sports. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is important that we invest in sporting activities, so that Sen. Mutinda does not suffer. She should not take money from her pocket to pay for a field for young ladies in Nairobi who relate with her so well to play. Those ladies could be from Kayole or Dandora. It is even worse in Migori County. Young people organise themselves so well. Some come from Rongo, Nyatike and Kuria to have a tournament in the furthest end of the county. Sometimes they call me to help them just get water and some loaves of bread to survive on. On the contrary, if you go to some counties today, you will find a governor moving around with a convoy of 10 vehicles to go and launch a project of Kshs200,000. This is an important Bill that will ensure that our organisations at the grassroots level such as community programmes, clubs, locally organised organisations and to some extent, volunteer networks that are organising our clubbing activities at the grassroots level get the jumpstart to go far. The only thing that I did not see here is, Sen. Sifuna, in his wisdom, indicated that the key sporting activities that you would want to see hugely invested in include football, swimming, basketball, netball and volleyball. I wanted to invite Sen. Sifuna in the amendment opportunity that we might have at the Committee of the Whole that we will have in this House, to think diversification and pride. Let us first invest in areas that have brought us serious pride. One of the reasons I am proud to be Kenyan when I go to the USA or Europe is because of the fast feet of a lady called Faith Kipyegon. Currently, I am mentoring a young girl called Lillian Odera from Migori County who, for the first time, made it to the Olympics running the 800-metre category. You might remember that last year, in the qualification test for runners in this country, Lillian Odera defeated Moraa, who has been a champion at the world stage. So, we cannot exclude athletics from this funding at the grassroot level. We must give athletics the opportunity, just like we would give football, swimming, basketball, netball and volleyball. To even more adventurous sports, if you are an enthusiast of sporting activities and you have been keen to watch the Olympics, you realise that there are a lot of sporting activities that some of them, you wonder why our sons and daughters in Kenya, are not participating in. Madam Temporary Speaker, for instance, we have seen a number of young children going for gymnastics as a major sport that brings glory and honour to the USA. They compete with their counterparts from Russia, China and Japan. These are sports that, if you put people from Tharaka Nithi, where my friend, Sen. Gataya Mo Fire, comes from, you will have very good gymnasts who can compete at the global stage. However, we do not give them priority because we do not see them as sports. 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."
},
{
"id": 1558410,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
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"content": "If you think about sports like the synchronized swimming, if you come from the lake where I come from or in the Indian Ocean where Sen. Faki comes from, you will realise that the kind of swimming that Sen. Chimera does is called snorkeling. They do a lot of snorkeling and go and swim with the dolphins right in Wasini Island. This is an opportunity where they can get when you think about sporting in a broad capacity, that we see a lot of those diversified sporting opportunities in the Olympics. I think that people in Kenya have talent enough to participate at a global level. So, I want to invoke the spirit of Ajua in Migori County--- Ajua can be a sport. This is what we call mancala sports. It can be a sport that we showcase, not just locally in Migori County, but all the way nationally. Let us encourage our counties that when this fund, being supported by Sen. Sifuna comes to law, we must see investment in all the sporting activities that we are seeing at the Olympic levels. Lastly, since I want to give time to my colleagues who want to contribute to this wonderful Bill, there is a conversation that I have seen the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, Raila Amollo Odinga, bring around devolution. One thing that I have learnt, there are two concurrent Bills that have come to this House. The Bill on period poverty and the Bill on sports. You realise that where these things happen to the maximum is in primary schools, more fundamentally, and high school to some extent. Is it not the right time for us to start thinking about devolving primary and secondary education, and to some extent, the entire education system? Counties can be given the power to deal with the immediate manifestation of the problems that are related with upbringing of our children at the schooling level. When you leave them largely to the national Government, they collapse. Sporting is collapsing when the best place to build sporting capacities is in high school and primary schools, where age has not caught up with people that they can nurture these sports. So, there will be a contradiction where you have put a fund to support sports in counties, yet some of the hubs that they must put that financing is in primary school and in high school, which is not devolved, Madam Temporary Speaker, I want to encourage that this conversation about sports and the Bill that was brought by my sister, Sen. Orwoba, should invoke in us the spirit of wishing for more devolved functions that are relevant to the upbringing and to the best well-being of our people, like education. With that, I appreciate Sen. Sifuna. I support this Bill in totality, but with amendments in the areas that I have tried to cast some thoughts on. Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker."
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"text_counter": 232,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mumma",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Ledama."
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