Plans for 2017 youth championships stall over cash crunch
What you need to know:
A member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), who sought anonymity, said they had requested a supplementary budget of Sh200m to begin preparations.
A delegation from International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was expected to visit the country last month to check Kenya’s progress.
Preparations for the 2017 World Youth Championships in Athletics have stalled as the government is yet to release funds more than a year after Kenya won the bid to host the event.
A member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), who sought anonymity, said they had requested a supplementary budget of Sh200m to begin preparations, but the government has been quite.
“We are a bit worried because we have not even put up a secretariat. The few members who are doing something are using their own money.
“In fact, Athletics Kenya (AK) has been kind to provide transport, yet the government should be the one doing so,” said the source.
However, Sports Principal Secretary Richard Ekai said there is no cause for alarm. He said a crucial meeting would be held today to jump-start the preparations for the championship tentatively set for July 11 to 16, 2017.
Ekai said LOC chief executive officer, Isaac Mwangi, has prepared a report that would be presented to Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario during the meeting.
“Their concerns are genuine, however, the government is on top of things. Everything would be explained on Tuesday (today) when the draft budget would be scrutinised by the ministry before a memo is done for approval by the Cabinet,” Ekai said at the weekend.
A delegation from International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was expected to visit the country last month to check Kenya’s progress.
However, the scandals that rocked IAAF headquarters resulted in the trip being postponed to January 9 to 11, before being pushed again to later this month.
It is estimated that the government will spend close to Sh2 billion in over two years in a bid to host a successful event.
With the government dragging its feet, AK wrote to IAAF requesting for a change of venue from the 30,000-seater Nyayo National Stadium to the Safaricom Stadium Kasarani.
“We could have been on time if we started working on the Nyayo National Stadium immediately we won the bid in November 2014. We can’t start now, the stadium needs two years for renovation,” said the source.
If successful, this will be the second global competition to take place at the home of athletics after the 2007 World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa.
“It would be easy putting up a secretariat at Kasarani with time running out instead of Nyayo, which requires a lot of renovation,” said Ekai.
