I will pay amputees, Echesa assures parliamentary team

Sports and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Sports, Culture and Tourism Committee on November 15, 2018 to answer questions surrounding frustrations of Kenya’s national team to the Amputee Football World Cup in Mexico. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE |

What you need to know:

  • Sports CS, PS say ministry not to blame for teams’ tribulations.
  • Just like the amputee team, the skaters had also been neglected.

The government has finally yielded to pressure from the public and assured the national amputee football team members that they will be paid all outstanding dues before the week ends after their stellar performance at the Amputee Football World Cup in Mexico two weeks ago.

Appearing before the National Assembly Sports Committee Thursday, Sports and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa also gave a similar undertaking to the national skating team that competed at the Africa Championships.

Just like the amputee team, the skaters had also been neglected.

Echesa, accompanied by his Principal Secretary Kirimi Kaberia, told the committee, chaired by Machakos Town Member of Parliament Victor Munyaka, that all the issues that had arisen after the amputees' teams arrived back home have been sorted out and the only pending business was settling their dues.

“When I found them sleeping on the floor in my office, I told them that being a national team, wearing T-shirts bearing Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s name was not right. But I assured them they will get their allowances by the end of the week,” Echesa told the committee.

Other than allowances, the government was also accused of failing to provide kit, forcing them to put on what was provided by “good” Samaritans.

The team had just returned from Mexico on Wednesday night last week with no government official at the airport to welcome them despite them having represented the country in Mexico for two weeks where they emerged as the second ranked team from Africa after overall winners Angola.

They finished 12th out of the 24 teams competing and, upon arrival, they camped at the sports ministry’s Kencom House offices demanding to be treated humanely after representing Kenya at the tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.

'NOT TO BLAME'

Echesa’s sentiments came even as his PS, Kaberia, said the ministry is not to blame for the challenges the teams faced.

According to the PS, the federation had agreed to cater for their own needs apart from air tickets which the ministry went ahead and purchased at a cost of Sh7.5 million. “The fact is that the federation came to us and said they had everything catered for by the international body, and we asked them to give us proof and they gave us letters showing that accommodation had been paid for and the only thing that they lacked was travel tickets,” Kaberia said.

Kaberia further explained that the delay in payment of the money is because the amputee team approached the ministry quite late yet all federations are required to submit their budgets every beginning of the year.

He, however, explained that people with disabilities are the highest funded and thus should not have any difficulties in running their affairs.

“Just to let this committee know that we have asked all the federations to provide us with their needs at the beginning of the year so that we can raise money from Treasury.”

The skating team, which won the Africa Championships in Egypt, accused the ministry of arrogance and neglicting sporting disciplines in the country.