Nairobi: On the eve of the CHAN 2024 final match between Morocco and Madagascar at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Dr Patrice Motsepe termed the tournament as the most successful edition in the history of CHAN competition.
According to Kenya News Agency, these words aptly captured the very essence of the continental football tournament. His statement did more than pay homage to Kenya’s capacity to stage a world-class tournament; it displayed the surging confidence in Kenya’s accelerated initiatives to re-engineer the sports sector and position sports as the next frontier of community and national development.
In the last three years, Kenya’s sporting landscape has witnessed massive transformation marked by unprecedented infrastructural development, enhancement of benefits for athletes, and aggressive push for talent spotting initiatives. The re-imaging of the sports sector is fueled by an emergent consciousness of sports as a key catalyst for economic transformation, a tool for social cohesion, and an enabler of community empowerment.
Elijah Mwangi, the Principal Secretary for State Department for Sports, says reconfiguring the sports sector is paramount to opening up economic opportunities. He adds that talent development programs, infrastructural investments, reviewing of the legal framework, streamlining the operations of sports federations and involvement of private sector actors in the growth of sports are mandatory for making the sector one of Kenya’s economic mainstays.
The government has adopted various approaches for optimizing sport’s benefits with infrastructure development being the most prominent. This includes the construction of fully-kitted stadia, talent academies, and community grounds to open up the grassroots for talent spotting initiatives.
The PS points out that complete talent development is hampered by absence of requisite infrastructure that enhances talent nurturing and growth. He adds that with standard pitches, running tracks, and courts across all counties, the nascent talents among Kenya’s youth will be manifested and tapped.
Currently, the Ministry, through the Kenya Academy of Sports, is constructing 37 modern sports academies across various counties during the Phase 1 of this project. Each facility, valued at Sh55 million, will have a standard football pitch, an eight-lane athletics track, a volleyball pitch, a netball and basketball court, as well as a social hall, changing rooms, and borehole.
The construction of stadiums in Kenya has also taken center stage in revitalizing the sports sector. After renovating Moi International Sports Center in Kasarani and Nyayo National Stadium that hosted CHAN 2024 matches, the government is now putting over 60 modern stadia that are currently in various stages of completion.
The most current stadium is the 10,000-seater Ithookwe Stadium in Kitui, which hosted the Mashujaa Day National celebrations. However, the Holy Grail of sporting infrastructure is the ultra-modern Talanta Sports City set for completion by December 2025.
The PS points out that apart from bolstering sports, the construction of the facilities has created employment opportunities for thousands of youths. Other reforms include enhancing the cash award scheme for athletes where a gold, silver, and bronze gets three, two, and one million shillings respectively. For breaking a world record, the government has allocated a five million shillings’ cash award.