Sports Kenya

Today we look at Sports Kenya and its functions when it comes to sports in Kenya.

This body derives its powers and mandate from Section 3 of the Sports Act. It is constituted as a corporate body, meaning it is legally recognized as a person with the capacity to enter into contracts, own property, sue, and be sued. It has perpetual succession; thus, its existence does not depend on the life of any individual officer.

Sports Kenya took over the functions of the Sports Stadia Management Board. The primary purpose of Sports Kenya is to promote facilitate and coordinate sporting activities from the grassroots level to the international level. Sports Kenya is also mandated to establish, maintain, and manage sports stadia within the country.

Sports Kenya is managed by a board of 13 members, as provided under section 6 of the Act. The members hold office for three years. The term is renewable once for a further period of three years. Currently, the Chairman of Sports Kenya is Mr. Fred Muteti, who took up office in May 2015. It remains to be seen who shall take over the office in a year when his tenure expires.

Sports Kenya manages both the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani and Nyayo National Stadium. I must mention the fact that budgetary allocations to Sports Kenya for purposes of establishment and management of stadia have been dwindling since its formation. The government’s pledge to deliver five new state of the art stadia and to upgrade several others seems to be a story for the trees so far.

This has caused a severe impediment in the development of sports in the country and has further seen Kenya being stripped of rights to host the African Nations Championships (Chan) in 2018 due to the low standards and inadequate facilities available.

Sports Kenya has its job cut out and must take steps to perform its functions if we want to see the level and quality of sports in Kenya improve.