Kenya Judo Federation official Duncan Kiprop Chemiryo has called for an urgent stakeholders meeting to discuss the state of sports funding in the country following a landmark Cabinet decision reassigning the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund (SASDF).
President William Ruto’s Cabinet on Tuesday last week announced the declassification of the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund, among other government agencies, to allow for a “strengthened and more focused” governance structure.
SASDF was one of four state corporations reassigned, the others being the Water Sector Fund, National Environment Trust Fund and Fish Levy Trust Fund.
In the new government plan, 42 state corporations will be merged to form 20 entities while nine others have been proposed for dissolution and the functions of 16 others assigned to the private sector.
Over the last seven years, the SASDF has matured into an efficient agency, benefitting many sporting federations and individual sportsmen, sportswomen, and also teams.
The SASDF was established as the Public Finance Management Regulations of 2018 and its key mandate has been the provision of funds to develop and promote sports, the arts and social welfare.
The fund’s architecture provides that 60 per cent of its proceeds be used for social development programmes, including universal healthcare, with another 35 per cent dedicated to the promotion and development of sports.
The remaining five per cent is devoted to government strategic interventions as directed by Cabinet.
Last month, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi invited public participation to dissect the proposed amendment of the Public Finance Management (Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund) Regulations to, among other things, “limit the mandate to funding the development and promotion of sports and arts only” besides clarifying the administration of the Fund.
“The Amendment Regulation, once considered and approved by the National Assembly, will ensure that Fund objectives will be amended to provide funding to support the development and promotion of sports and arts, including facilitation for the acquisition and provision of equipment for sports and arts, enhancing support and access to funding for sportspersons and sports organizations on their participation in sporting events and competitions, financing the development of sports and recreation arts facilities, among others,” Mbadi said.
The Cabinet Secretary, through his communications department, acknowledged receipt of Nation Sport’s questions over the fate of the Fund after last week’s Cabinet decision and committed to issuing a statement on the way forward.
But by yesterday, January 28, the statement hadn’t been issued.
While, Mbadi’s changes proposed last year aim at giving the Fund more independence and teeth, sports stakeholders fear the Cabinet’s declassification of the SASDF by collapsing it back into Treasury last week could erode the gains brought about by the existing sports funding model.
They argue that in the current set-up, requests for funding are made to and approved directly by the quasi-independent Fund as opposed to previous practice where such requests were approved directly by Treasury through the Sports Ministry.
SASDF, with Nuh Ibrahim as Chief Executive Officer, has been praised for its efficiency and quick turnaround times in disbursement of funds to federations and other sports entities.
Among other major programmes the SASDF kitty supports annually are the WRC Safari Rally, Kenya Open Golf Championships, World Athletics Tour Kip Keino Classic alongside Deaflympics, rugby, tennis and schools’ competitions.
The Fund is also handling infrastructure development including the construction of the new Talanta Sports City and refurbishment of the Moi International Sports Centre, Nyayo National Stadium and Eldoret’s Kipchoge Keino Stadium, among other venues.
It also caters for Kenya’s preparations for and participation in major sporting events, including the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Special Olympics, World Rugby Sevens Series and Deaflympics, and also supports a cash awards programme for medallists.
Fund officials could not comment on the latest developments as they await further guidance from Treasury, but Kenya Judo Federation Deputy President Kiprop sees the move to declassify SASDF as “an error” and has subsequently called on the National Olympic Committee (NOC-K) and Kenya National Sports Council (KNSC) to summon an emergency meeting to discuss the latest developments.
“At its inception, the Sports Fund was established through an Act of Parliament under the Sports Act (2013) and cannot be overturned by a Cabinet Memo,” he argues.
“Moving the Fund to Treasury as a regulatory entity introduced various challenges, including the current situation. The CS Treasury had initially wanted it to be separated completely from any other responsibility as is now,” Kiprop adds.
“For the last seven or so years, federations have been relieved of financial challenges and so dissolving the Fund will re-introduce these challenges and take us back to the old days.
“NOC-K and KNSC should call for a stakeholders’ meeting to seek clarity on the way forward because unless guided, Kenyan sports will be left in limbo.”
“Moving the Sports Fund fully to the ministry is disastrous for all federations,” Manwa observes.
“Approvals for funding can take months in the parent ministry, but once the request reaches the Fund, the process takes a very short time. That speaks volumes about the efficiency in the fund,” Manwa, who is also a lecturer at the Moi University, adds.
It is the prayer of Kenya Volleyball Federation President Charles Nyaberi that with the changes proposed by Mbadi, the Sports Fund will exist as a stand-alone Fund.
“One probable advantage could be turning SASDF into an exclusively sports tool, the way it was intended to be initially, by removing health and other beneficiaries,” he says.
“If this happens, and the budgetary in-flow remains constant, then this will be a big score for Kenyan sport. The Sports Fund has been a most effective and responsive organ,” argues Nyaberi, who is also a long-serving Vice-Chairman of the Kenya National Sports Council.
His sentiments are shared by Maureen Owiti, Chairperson of the Kenya Aquatic Association.
“We have been a beneficiary of the Fund and they have been very supportive. How sure are we, now, that we shall get the funds required?” she poses.
“The Government needs to bring together sports stakeholders and tell them how the functions of the Fund will be carried out in an efficient manner following the declassification.”
“In my opinion, SASDF was among the most efficient structured in the sports budget processing,” Wanjala observes.
“(By declassifying SASDF) We are back to the dark days. Currently, you may take months to get anything done at other levels of approval, including the back and forth, but once you land at the Sports Fund, you relax. With the turnaround time of one day, the team is fully sorted.”
However, Dismas Kuyiyi from the amputee football association faults the Fund for “failing to deal directly with sportspersons and teams.”
“The disbursement of funds directly to federations when teams are involved does not guarantee that these funds will reach these athletes,” he argues.
But Kenya Cycling Federation Secretary Charles Mose maintains that the Sports Fund has given hope to struggling federations, especially in the provision of sports equipment with National Olympic Committee of Kenya Anthony Kariuki noting that it would be disastrous to derail SASDF’s momentum.
“When the fund was set up, it was meant to get direct funding to sports, principally from revenues generated from sports betting, without bothering Treasury,” Kariuki observes.
“So far, this model has been working well, it was semi-independent with a Board and good for us. It should be thought through properly because as federations, we are comfortable and happy with the way the Fund was working.”
Just last month, the SASDF had called for tenders for expert financial advisory services for the design, construction and equipping of the Talanta Sports City stadium and other sports facilities, aiming to, inter alia, identify funding sources and ensuring sustainability of the projects.
The Sports Fund intends to engage a qualified consultant to provide expert financial advisory services for the proposed design, construction, and equipping of Talanta Sports City at Jamhuri Sports Grounds and other Sports Facilities.
And owing to the success of the SASDF model, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, via the Sports Amendment Bill (2024), is also seeking to amend the Sports Act and devolve this financing model by pushing for the establishment of a County Sports Associations Fund.
Sifuna’s Bill seeks to fund registered county sports associations from income generated by the County Revenue Fund, loans, grants or donations from National Government or international agencies.
