Kibaki boosts Kenya’s Olympic spirit with cash rewards

Kenya’s Olympians braved a two-and-a-half wait for President Mwai Kibaki at State House, Nairobi, Monday, but when the Head of State finally arrived for the official Beijing Olympics send-off ceremony, the athletes found the wait worth the while.

The President emerged with a bagful of incentives that he and many observers believe will spur the athletes on to podium places at next month’s Olympic Games.

Kibaki more than doubled the reward for the gold medallists, offering Sh750,000 for winners in Beijing, a big increase from the previous reward for Olympic champions that stood at Sh300,000.
Silver medallists will pocket Sh500,000 while bronze medal winners will take home Sh250,000, up from the previous Sh300,000 and Sh200,000 respectively.

Monday’s ceremony at Nairobi’s State House was pencilled for 10.00 am but only started at 12.30 pm but the athletes and officials had no regrets when they headed back to their pre-Olympics camp at Kasarani.

“I have increased the awards. This is aimed at enhancing excellence in the team and making the athletes feel rewarded for their effort in flying high our country’s flag,” Kibaki said.

“Since 1956 when Kenya took part in its first Olympics, names like Kipchoge Keino, Paul Tergat, Robert Wangila, Catherine Ndereba and Naftali Temu have been echoed severally signifying Kenya’s prowess in sports,” the President said.

The new incentive scheme was applauded by the athletes and officials with the overall team captain, 800 metres runner Wilfred Bungei, saying it will go a long way in influencing competition against the other countries in Beijing.

National Olympic Committee of Kenya chairman, Kipchoge Keino, said the defection of athletes to the Gulf and other countries had reduced since the government introduced a reward system and institutionalised it.

With the new scheme in force, the athletes now have more reason to sacrifice and battle to have the national anthem played at the major international meetings, the former Olympic champion noted.

“I must thank your government for the support you are giving our athletes and youths. Since this programme was started, we have seen the migration of our talented athletes cut down,” the track legend, also a member of the International Olympic Committee, told the President.

Kibaki also announced far reaching programmes to revamp the sports industry to provide lucrative career opportunities to sportsmen and women in the country.

He revealed that plans to establish an International Sports Academy as a flagship project under the Vision 2030 were underway in order to prepare athletes to cope with the ever-increasing demand for excellence and offer specialised training for the local athletes.

Other measures unveiled to promote sports include establishment of a National Sports Lottery to generate funds to drive various sports programmes in all parts of the country an initiative the President directed the concerned ministry to give top priority.

Constituency sports fund

The government has also directed the ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to ensure that the recently allocated 210 million shillings for constituency sports development was efficiently utilised to tap and nurture more talent.

President Kibaki observed: “The purpose of investing in such projects is to enable the Government provide a suitable environment for our young and talented sportsmen and women to train in order to sharpen their skills so as to become internationally competitive.”

The government will also be building modern sports facilities in each of the country’s provincial headquarters.

President Kibaki assured the national team that the Government had allocated enough resources through the ministry of youth and sports to cater for all logistics in terms of equipment, uniforms, air tickets, accommodation and upkeep allowances.

He said, “In this regard, let me assure you that my government fully supports you. We have, for instance, set aside over 100 million shillings to prepare and facilitate your participation in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Commending the team members for their individual painstaking effort to earn a slot in the hotly contested national qualifying events, President Kibaki urged them to remain focused during the entire competition period in order to translate their hard and rigorous training into a harvest of medals.

He also commended all sponsors and volunteers for their support to the team to ensure that the legacy of Kenya’s legendary sportsmen and women will never fade.

Addressing the same function, sports minister, Hellen Sambili, thanked President Kibaki for institutionalising cash awards to athletes which has tremendously boosted their morale.

Kenya will compete in five disciplines during the Beijing Olympics namely athletics, boxing, tae kwon-do, rowing and swimming.

On Monday, Kenya’s representatives to the recently concluded World Junior Championships held in Poland were also honoured with cash awards for their sterling performance in which they finished third out of over 180 countries that participated in the championships.

Other speakers during the occasion were chef de mission to the Olympics, David Okeyo and Keino.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, cabinet ministers George Saitoti and Sam Ongeri and the head of civil service Francis Muthaura, among other senior government and corporate officials, were present.

The president also announced that his government will build small but modern facilities at each province to provide suitable environment for training of athletes. The centres will help sensitise and expose athletes at the grass root to disciplines which are not accessible at the village level.

The eight centres will be in line with its plans to build a national sports academy in Nairobi under the 2030 vision which will provide specialised training to Kenyan athletes. Also to be launched will be the National lottery which will generate the funds to foot all national teams expenses abroad while taking part in any championship.

“It will be used to have sports development from the sub-location level through to the national. Sports help enhance national cohesion and patriotism which is important in national building. Sportsmen from different cultures and backgrounds meet together and compete fairly,” said Kibaki.

The president underscored the importance of sports as a career and best way to promote tourism and challenged the athletes that the whole country will be cheering them on and celebrate together whenever the national anthem will be sang.

“I am certain you will do well in beijing. The juniors were third in Poland, you can do better. We will follow every performance you will have and I will welcome you back here to celebrate your success on return,” said the president.

Earlier the government had spent over Sh2.8 million in rewarding the World Junior team of 23 athletes and seven officials that had finished third overall at the global track and field competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland earlier in the month.