Kisumu Sports Getting a Raw Deal from the County Government?
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- April 10, 2023
Kisumu County is a sports powerhouse in Kenya, churning out talent consistently in various disciplines. Football, basketball, hockey, and rugby are the dominant ones in this field. A casual glance at the rosters of our national sports teams, past and present, will leave you hard-pressed to find one without a Kisumu-grown talent. The county feeds Kenyan teams with the best regularly. I dare say it’s the backbone of our nation’s sports.
Sports as an industry is one of Kisumu’s best products. You would expect those in authority to treat it with some sense of purposeful, visionary, and consistent engagement as a healthy and economically gainful venture. Disappointingly, it’s quite the opposite. The county government seems to treat sports with a searing disdain, a disinterested and lethargic demeanor that completely contrasts with how it handles other spheres of governance. Any attention the county government gets seems to be an afterthought or public relations exercise to be seen doing something at the end of the sport.
Kisumu All Stars vs Naivas FC at a past duel at the Moi Stadium Kisumu – Photo: Kisumu All Stars Facebook
A good example is the mismanaged, ever-begging Kisumu All-Stars Football Club that plays in the NSL. It’s like sports is an “oh by the way” or bother to our leaders, a valueless venture not worth any serious input.
Parties
You may say I am going on a negative overdrive, but I am not. This is all factual. Pray tell, when was the last time you saw the county government organize a capacity-building workshop for the many sports clubs in the county? Any policy document on sports to ensure a visionary, consistent, and sustainable direction and support for this sector? We see song and dance festivals.
We see Christmas parties. Have you seen a single, well-planned, well-executed sports tournament by the government yet? Go back five years or so to find one.
Since Governor Nyong’os first term in office, he and his government have yet to implement a new standard sports infrastructure project, apart from giving our ancient stadium a fresh coat of paint now and then to be seen doing something, nada, zilch. Don’t mention the Mamboleo Stadium; that was a national government project, and it’s not even open to the sports fraternity yet.
It’s hosted national public holiday celebrations, political rallies, and continental conventions and was set to host a mega music and booze gig over the weekend. Ironically, what it has not hosted, is what it was built for, sports! Wonders.
Kisumu Sportsground
To rub the salt in, existing sports spaces like the sportsground have been shut down for ages for renovation works that never seem complete. Where do our sports people train or play? Where do they get to nurture and expose their talent? As a sporting county, Kisumu City should by now be talking of indoor arenas for basketball games, volleyball, netball, and handball. It should boast FIFA standards-approved football stadiums and mini stadiums in all the seven sub-counties. All we ever see are glossy artistic impressions of these facilities that always remain just that, dreamy impressions on paper.
Governor Nyong’os regime needs to stand up and work for sports, not just have it a a section in a campaign manifesto. The economic, social and health benefits of this sector are priceless. It should be made to work, be packaged, branded and marketed far and wide. We have millions of money allocated for sports every financial year, where do these funds go if they’re not being felt on the ground?
No, the nylon P.E kits dished out to teams by the county from time to time don’t cut it for me, sorry, we need better. We need real value investment here.
Sports in this county should be picked from the back burners and be given the attention, development and appreciation it deserves
