Open letter to Kenya’s fifth President, His Excellency William Samoei arap Ruto

Good morning Your Excellency,

First of all, I wish to congratulate you on the auspicious occasion of your swearing-in this morning as the Fifth President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces. Hongera Mtukufu Rais!

Sir, your admirable journey from humble beginnings to becoming Kenya’s chief executive is nothing short of a miracle, and is proof that indeed every hustle counts, and that you mustn’t have royal blood to be the main tenant at State House.

Ndugu Rais, I have admired your meteoric rise, from the days you shared a small office at Victor House - next door to Nation Centre – with former football chief Sam Nyamweya as you successfully mustered support for President Daniel arap Moi’s re-election in 1992.

I’m sure, at the time, you wouldn’t have imagined that one day you would occupy the office that President Moi dominated at the house on the hill.

Mtukufu Rais, as you get used to your new title, and address, I know you will hit the ground running and, inter alia, reduce the price of fertiliser, make unga affordable and cushion us against the vagaries of the global economy while keeping the taxman on the straight and narrow.

Your Excellency, as you cushion farmers from exploitation and uplift mama mboga, I’m confident that you will also raise the profile of Kenyan sport to unprecedented levels and ensure our sportsmen and women earn a decent living from sport.

I know you are an avid sports fan, having interacted with you on various platforms at home and abroad, including in October, 2008, when - while you were Agriculture Minister - you visited and motivated Kenyan athletes at the Golden Tulip in Amsterdam ahead of the Amsterdam Marathon, and again in Vienna in 2019 as we cheered Eliud Kipchoge on his Ineos 1:59 Challenge mission.

Sir, your Kenya Kwanza manifesto is spot on regarding the need to rejuvenate sports revenue streams.

“Within 100 days, Kenya Kwanza commits to establish a high-level expert task force to identify sustainable sources of sports funding,” your pre-election manifesto promised.

“Consideration should be given to a National Lottery, tax incentives for corporate sponsorship, a dedicated or ring-fenced tax and private-public partnership framework for infrastructure development,” the manifesto added, also pledging to review the Sports Act of 2013 to absorb resultant recommendations.

Mtukufu Rais, that would be an excellent starting point given the challenges in financing of Kenyan sport.

I always maintain that any serious government is that which doesn’t give money for sport.

As ironic as it may sound, essentially, it’s not the government’s business to bankroll sports.

Instead, government should create an enabling environment to allow sports to grow and self-finance so as to ease the pressure off the exchequer to target more vital areas such as healthcare, security, education, infrastructure development and food security.

Your Excellency, the need for a National Sports Lottery has been visited multiple times with no action. That it features on your 100-day pledge is reassuring.

In the current set-up, Sir, operations of the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund have been wanting and need serious realignment, with the establishment of a National Sports Lottery, whose aim is solely to finance Kenyan sport, the best way forward.

Mtukufu Rais, in your earlier call of duty, you promised five new world-class stadiums, none of which took off the ground.

We excuse you, given that, in mitigation, you clarified that many projects stalled “because of the handshake” and due to the fact that you were hardly on the same page with your former boss.

Now that he is basking in Ichaweri and you are in full control, we hope to see at least one new stadium come up, and the others whose renovations have stalled revisited.

Your Excellency, I and fellow sportsmen and women aren’t asking for too much and implore you to complete the works, to world-class standards, at Eldoret’s Kip Keino Stadium, Iten’s Kamariny Stadium and the Mombasa Municipal Stadium.

Five years is a very short time Sir, especially given the Sh10 trillion debt that your government will inherit, and it’s, therefore, not practical to deliver five new stadiums.

Ndugu Rais, Nairobi lost the bid to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships because of, as World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe put it, unconvincing infrastructure.

Nyayo National Stadium and Kasarani are past their sell-by dates and a fresh new venue in the capital is required if we dream of hosting major international championships.

Mtukufu Rais, I’m sure President Paul Kagame is in town for your swearing-in ceremony and I hope he can detail to you how the Kigali Arena he built has transformed fortunes of Rwanda’s sport.

Meanwhile, top of your in-tray will be the need for an urgent analysis of Kenyan football.

Sir, the people’s game is at an all-time low and fans are better off watching the English Premier League which is on hold as England mourns the death of their beloved Queen Elizabeth.

Dialogue with Fifa is critical in unlocking the impasse and I trust that your new Sports Cabinet Secretary’s 100-day appraisal will be highlighted by efforts made to salvage our game.

Your Excellency, I could write a lot more but I know you are a busy man with quite a handful on your plate, but, with your permission Sir, I will keep engaging you on matters sport for the good of the nation.

Commander-in-Chief Sir, kindly pass my warm regards and congratulations to our new First Lady, Her Excellency Mama Rachel, and the rest of the First Family.

I trust that Mama Rachel will maintain her passion for cycling despite her increased responsibilities, not only to keep fit, but to also encourage other Kenyans to lead healthy, active lifestyles.
Looking forward to seeing you soon, Sir.

Kongoi mising!

Your Sincerely,

Elias Makori

Makori is the Managing Editor (Sports) at Nation Media Group.

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