Trouble for Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba continues to simmer as National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei questions him over the mismanagement of his ministry.
This comes after Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah proposed the summoning of Namwamba over accountability on August 17, expressing disappointment over how the ministry has ignored Kenyan athletes.
While appearing on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show on Tuesday, Shollei intimated on the decadent state of Namwanba’s ministry as she backed Ichung’wah’s proposal.
Sholloei claims that she even hosted champions from the Boston and London marathons after the ministry failed to accord them a decent reception upon their return.
“I am happy that this was raised. Coming from Uasin Gishu where most athletes come from it’s very painful, I listen to them. Every time they have landed they have come to my home here in Kitusuru because the CS is not bothered,” she said.
“I’ve hosted them for breakfast, lunch and talked about their challenges and they tell me their horror stories. They fly economy, the ministry officials are flying business class and first class, sometimes they have a layover of 14 hours.”
The Uasin Gishu Woman representative further disclosed that the launched Talanta Hela app, meant to promote youth’s creativity and talents, has been a white elephant since it is nowhere to be seen.
Citizen Digital has also established that the app is neither on Play Store nor on App Store.
She also added that the ministry has been giving some teams knockoff uniforms to use during their international games yet the ministry has been funded.
“Seeing the management of sports at the moment is painful. As late as yesterday I looked for the Talanta Hela app [and] it doesn’t exist. They told us it was launched,” she said.
“The other day when our team went to Tunisia for the beach games they were wearing fake sports uniforms, knockoffs from Riveroad. If you look at the team that went to Trinidad and Tobago they were also wearing fake uniforms. It just asks you by the time a country reaches a point where our athletes are wearing fake uniforms there is really something wrong.”
Shollei further lifted the lid on the rampant cases of doping linked to Kenyan athletes, noting that the amount of exploitation in training camps is appalling and coaches together with relevant authorities are involved.
“The coaches who issue these drugs are known. Why is it that they have not been arrested? None of those young people know about doping they can hardly buy food or shoes so it’s usually the coaches or people around them providing these drugs lying to them that it is supplements,” she stated.
Shollei says that the aforesaid issues are among many that she intends to raise when CS Namwamba appears for questioning before Parliament.
While fronting the matter before the House, Ichung’wah termed CS Namwamba’s leadership as a failure since he has been unable to manage Kenya’s sportsmen and women and he is instead wallowing in the privileges availed to him by the government.
“The best representation we should see are those stadia are our ministers not carrying joyriders on trips abroad to accompany them and doing nothing,” he said.
“You were made a minister to serve the people and if you are made the minister of sports you must serve sportsmen and women of our country and it’s indeed extremely sad that such good ambassadors can leave our country without due recognition by the ministry in charge of that responsibility.”
