Govt unveils plans to construct sports academies
Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba (left) confers with Peter Tum, the Principal Secretary in the State Department of Sports during a breakfast meeting between the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports and its various partners in Nairobi on January 16, 2024.
What you need to know:
- The PS confirmed the government spent Sh532 million in the Talanta Hela initiative in six months leading to December 31.
- Each academy will have a fence, field, murram track, terrace, washrooms, parking area, boreholes, and water storage tanks, among other specifications.
The government will soon kick start the construction of constituency sports academies in the country, Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum has said.
Talenta Hela initiative
In a related development, the PS confirmed the government spent Sh532 million in the Talanta Hela initiative in six months leading to December 31.
He spoke on Tuesday while appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Sports, Culture and Tourism, which is chaired by Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama.
27 sites
He said the government had through a feasibility study identified 27 sites to put up the academies with seven earmarked for the initial phase in the 2023/24 financial year.
“We have done the feasibility studies, we have come up with the concept design and we are now working on the technical drawing,” said Tum, adding that the Ministry’s end goal is to have the facilities in all the 290 constituencies.
He said that out of the three budget proposals that they received for the project, they settled on the cheapest one of about Sh50 million per academy.
“We will develop academies that are fit for purpose but we are not going to be extravagant to give you a Mercedes when you need a Toyota,” he explained.
Bomet, Bungoma, Busia, and Garissa are among the first counties to benefit from the programme, aimed at helping nurture talents at the grassroots level.
Expressed fears
The MPs expressed fears not having the academies completed in their respective constituencies by 2027 might cost them their re-election.
"We will be going for re-election in 2027, can you assure us that having started with seven by 2027 all of us will have had academies?," posed Wanyama.
Each academy will have a fence, field, murram track, terrace, washrooms, parking area, boreholes, and water storage tanks, among other specifications.
Regarding the government’s expenditure on the Talanta Hela Initiative, Tum said the Sh532 million was spent on holding five sports talent camps, the inaugural Talanta Hela U19 Inter-County Football Tournament, and training technical administration personnel in various disciplines.
2500 participants
He said five sports talent camps attracted over 2500 participants while over 2000 technical administration personnel benefited from the training.
Talanta Hela Initiative is the government’s flagship project that seeks to rebuild and monetize sports and creative industry in the country.
