Sports made me who I am today, says Dan Wanyama

With the doctors’ strike hogging the headlines all week and campaigns for the 2017 General Election hotting up, you may have missed the East African Community Parliamentary Games in Mombasa.

The politicians from the region showed their other side of sportsmanship that is largely unknown.

Kieni MP Kanini Kega was brilliant goalkeeper for the Kenyan football team. Cherangany MP Wesley Kemboi and former Boston Marathon champion did not disappoint in athletics.

Webuye West MP Dan Sitati Wanyama and his Teso North counterpart, Arthur Odera, were outstanding. Wanyama played other sports too.

I caught up with Wanyama and requested for an interview, he obliged. Seating relaxed at a hotel in Mombasa, he narrated what it was like to be a lawmaker after having played volleyball at the highest level.

Even though I didn’t not have the opportunity to watch him play for the national team, it didn’t take long to notice his love for sports.

On the first day of the championship anchored the Kenyan team to a fast finish in the 4x400 race and also took part in the tug of war. In addition, he played as a lead striker for the Kenyan football team in two games against Uganda and Tanzania.

At 45, age has not slowed down Wanyama who is a licensed volleyball coach. He also organises tournaments in his constituency. The Webuye west MP is in the running for Most Valuable Player in the Parliamentary Games which were scheduled to end in Nyali on Saturday.

“Were it not for volleyball, I wouldn’t have been here. Publicising your candidature and selling your policies to the people is expensive for a greenhorn. Volleyball gave me a good platform. It exposed me to the public and by the time I started asking for votes, the people already knew me,” said Wanyama on Tuesday.

“I was the captain of the Team Kenya 1999 All Africa Games in Johannesburg. I demonstrated my leadership skills. I am also a former secretary general of Kenya Volleyball Federation. This gave me an edge. Sports made me who I am,” he added.

The intensity of Wanyama’s gaze sharpens as he speaks. Politics is never far away from sports.

Wanyama said he is saddened as national football teams in the country lack sponsors and the two biggest local football clubs Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards have been surviving from hand to mouth for more than 50 years on.

He said development of sports is not only the responsibility of federations, but politicians and governments should also be involved. Wanyama said sports and politics go hand in hand, adding that he is supports radical changes for the betterment of Kenyan athletes.

“I was at the Rio Olympic Games and I saw the mistreatment our athletes underwent. Even during my playing days, the issue of uniforms was always a problem. In 1991 we went to the All Africa Games in Egypt without uniforms yet, like the Olympics, it is an event that comes after four years. It was not an ambush! Said Wanyama.

I put it to him that since he is an MP, the decisions they make in air-conditioned boardrooms either positive or negative effects on the development of sports, which could in turn help change the lives of our athletes.

With a steady gaze, he said: “Sometimes you want to bring change, but sports administrators are protected by their own constitutions. This has gone into their heads.

“The people managing teams are the ones stealing from players. Sports management is controlled by a clique of people. Those who get positions must be insiders.   

“At Nock, for example, changes only occur in the event of the death of an official. Otherwise, the office bearers cling onto power and make it very difficult for a new person to get in,” said Wanyama.

“I think the country should bite the bullet and be sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee. Thereafter, we can clean house and streamline things in rogue federations for us to be competitive again. It has happened in Nigeria,” he added.

Wanyama said although their questions over the manner in which Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario handled the Rio Fiasco, he commended him for suspending Nock officials.

The MP wants those found culpable brought to book because it is the athletes who bear the brunt of their irresponsibility.

It is often said that politics has no place in sports, but for Wanyama thinks otherwise. He was an athlete, a sports administrator before entering into politics. At this point, whether politicians pollute sports or empower it is irrelevant.

I ask him whether it was his dream to become a politician?

“I don’t know. It is difficult to tell. When I was young, I was fascinated by sports. But the reality is that volleyball, and especially the men’s game is not as well-developed or well-paying in Africa. Therefore, I saw an opportunity in politics and went for it after retiring.

“The support for athletes is not adequate. The mistreatment we underwent when representing the national team persists even now,” said Wanyama.

Listening to him, one gets the impression that Wanyama feels he was not properly recognised for the role he played before retiring from active sports.

Before he ever dreamed of being an MP, Wanyama was just another young boy playing football barefoot and shirtless in the village with other boys.

“I developed an interest in sports when I was 13-year-old. I played football in the primary school games for my school, Chebos Primary. I also liked short races, but I never even thought about volleyball until I joined Bungoma High School for my O Level.

“I joined St. Peters Boys High School in Mumias for my A Level studies and continued to play volleyball through to university. When I got employment, I did not stop plying volleyball,” said Wanyama.

After graduating with an accounting degree from the University of Nairobi, Wanyama got a job as a teller at Cooperative Bank and in 1991. He co-founded the Cooperative Bank team that plays in the Kenyan Volleyball Federation National League.

He was so passionate and determined that he was promoted to the head of sports in the company, a position he used to recruit players for basketball and handball teams.

“It was while I was in Co-op Bank that I was selected to join the national team, which was then coached by former KVF chairman Alfred Khang’ati to prepare for the All Africa Games in Egypt.

In 1999 I was appointed overall captain of the team that represented Kenya in the All Africa Games in Johannesburg,” he said.

After Wanyama retired as a player, he was elected KVF secretary general in 2005, but resigned just six months into the job.

“When I joined administration I found that players’ welfare was not a priority. I began authorising players’ payment before other administrative expenditure. As a result, I made enemies with my colleagues and opted to resign,” he said.

But, sports are not only about victory in competition, the economic aspect is equally important. Countries are bidding to host major championships because of the benefits they will receive in return.

Equally, sports events such as the Olympics and the All Africa Games have the ability to impact international politics positively.

Currently, the Nigerian women’s national team Super Falcons, who won the African Women’s Cup of Nations held in Cameroon have been staging a protest over the delayed payment of their salaries. Nigerian authorities have been pleading with them to leave an Abuja hotel as their strike “is shaming the country”.

This shows that the more democracies develop, the clearer it becomes that sports and politics are inextricably linked.

In fact, the goal of Olympism, as defined by the Olympic Charter, “is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.

Asked if Kenya is willing to host the 2017 African Nations Championship, Wanyama said the buck stops with Dr Wario.

“He needs to be more aggressive and push for the hosting of such as events. That is his responsibility. We only come in when it is time to vet and approve the budget,” said Wanyama.

What does he think about doping and the growing betting craze?

“Unfortunately during my playing years, I never knew that there was something I could take apart from the normal diet to enhance my performance. And I think that is what made me reach that far. I know these substances have their side effects. “ I don’t gamble. I am very concerned that betting threatens to destroy the lives of our youth.

Wanyama has encouraged his children to take up sports.