Ababu Namwamba: I'll return Kenya to international football

Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts Cabinet Secretary nominee Ababu Namwamba has promised to return Kenya to international football if his appointment is ratified by the National Assembly.

Namwamba, who was speaking during the vetting process by the National Assembly Committee on Appointments on Friday, said that his first task if he takes over, he will deal with the Fifa suspension imposed on the country in February by the World football governing body.

Kenya was suspended by Fifa from international football in February following the move by outgoing Sports CS Amina Mohamed to disband Football Kenya Federation on November 11 last year.

On the doping crisis that is threatening to taint the country's image in the sporting world, Namwamba said he will get down to business immediately after he is confirmed and get to the root cause.

"We have rogue agents and I have reason to believe they may be part of a syndicate drawing our athletes into these doping cases," he said.

"Should I be confirmed, I am determined to move with haste to start cleaning up this mess, starting with the Fifa ban. My first day in I'll be on the phone with the Fifa president to lift the ban on Football Kenya Federation."

Plight of sportspeople

On the roadmap to change the plight of sports people: "Should I be confirmed, it's true I would be going to a ministry I have served before. I can confidently say I have a good view of the sports terrain."

"It is in absolute turmoil. Our football activities are in limbo following the ban by Fifa, the Badminton federation is banned, as is the swimming federation. This year alone there have been more than 30 doping cases, which threatens Kenya's image as a fine sporting nation."

"There is no pension benefits for our sports people, and a lot of retirees live in penury. This is because there is no framework to take care of them."

On the matter of the stalled Kenya Academy of Sports at Kasarani, Namwamba added: "We started the journey when I was minister. The project has stalled. We have to elevate this academy to a be point of nurturing talent and unleashing it to the national and international stage."

"We do not appreciate our sports people enough. We have seen some of them changing nationality. We can do more in motivating them. But importantly for me is to provide an avenue where our sports people can comfortably live off the sweat of their brow, and providing that legislative and policy framework," he said in response to a question on why Kenyan athletes are changing nationality.

"If you look at many countries who have grown exponentially in this space, they just get the basics right. At one point, Kenya used to be represented in hockey at the Olympics. We used to be a powerhouse in boxing and cricket, but these sports are no longer anywhere in the horizon. We are just not paying attention to the breeding grounds of sports."

"I want to work with the ministry of foreign affairs to ensure sports diplomacy is fully exploited in this country."

Namwamba emphasised the need to clean up sports federations in the wake of many bodies facing sanctions from international bodies due to mismanagement.

"We need to be able to sanction federations and individuals."

"We need to develop community clubs at all levels. We have to see how we can support these clubs. We need to strengthen sponsorship and exposure. We must put money in our football."

On empowering young people to pursue sports as a formal engagement: "We need to make it clear to federations that young people do not only exist to just service their interests. The way they operate must be in a manner that serves the best interest of sports people."

On stalled stadia projects across the country: "There is no value for money in these projects. We are still building these stadia in the old mould. One of the things we need to do is revisit the designs of the stadia to ensure they are centres of excellence, so that there are activities going on at all time."

Namwamba told the committee that his net worth is Sh425 million made up of  a home in Nairobi and Busia, a business, shares in Safaricom, Kenya Power and Cooperative Bank, pension income two vehicles and two boats.