The Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) games in Vihiga County, initially scheduled to start on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, have been postponed to next month due to a lack of funds.
Tom Justus Aura, KSSSA Deputy Chairman for the Vihiga chapter, reported that their meeting with coaches at Ebusakami Girls Secondary School was interrupted by communication from County Director of Education David Koech, who requested that plans be put on hold due to the unavailability of funds.
“The County Director of Education told us that a decision had been made at the Western region level to have the games pushed to next month since many schools, especially day schools, were struggling to present their teams for this year’s fiesta,” said Aura.
“Most schools have had to foot team expenses from zonal level to qualify for the County finals. We are yet to receive 30% Term One school capitation, making it difficult for us to proceed with the competitions as planned,” he added.
This postponement means that secondary school sports fans will have to wait longer for the annual extravaganza, initially organized across several venues in Luanda’s Bunyore Girls High School, Ebusakami, Mumboha, and Esiandumba Secondary Schools.
Football and rugby matches were to take place at Emuhaya’s Es’saba and Esalwa grounds, respectively. Ibubi Girls Secondary School was set to host lawn tennis and table tennis, Bunyore Girls to host basketball games, while Mumboha Secondary was to host netball and soccer matches, with Ebusakami and Esiandumba also hosting soccer games.
Aura indicated that the games are now scheduled to be held from July 4, 2024, to July 6, 2024, provided the government releases the capitation funds in time.
“The Form One capitation delays coupled with the 30% Term One arrears are making it difficult for schools to not only present their teams to the competitions, but also lack resources to pay match officials,” Aura said.
“We would prefer school games to be played as planned to avoid a scenario where a school loses a critical player to injury ahead of Western Region games. Injured players need time to heal and represent their teams at the regionals, but these delays may disadvantage some teams,” he added.
