Why Sports Ministry is on the spot
Secretary for Administration in the Ministry of Sports and Culture, Kassim Farrah gives a speech on March 23, 2019 at the Kenyatta International Conventional Centre in Nairobi during the Nairobi Fight Night. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- Noor also explained that Farah’s gaffe was just a slip of the tongue, and that a heartfelt apology has already been tendered to the event’s sponsors.
- “The CS was just appointed a few weeks ago and she is yet to settle. In fact she has meetings planned for the next two weeks with the stakeholders, starting with sports editors and federation officials.
The ministry of sports has reiterated its commitment to the development of sports in the country amidst growing disgruntlement and discontentment among local sports stakeholders.
At the Nairobi Fight Night held at the Kenyatta International Convention Center on Saturday evening, the name of new sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed was met with loud boos from the capacity crowd that had gathered to watch the epic boxing contest between Kenya’s Fatuma Zarika and Zambia’s Catherine Phiri.
Mohammed, who was absent that day, was represented by her Secretary for Administration, Kassim Farah, who was booed even louder and was unable to complete his speech as a result.
Worse for Farah, he made a costly mistake of thanking M-Pesa for organizing the bout, when it was in fact online gaming company SportPesa who were behind the night time event.
Addressing the issue on Monday, Sports Cabinet Assistant Secretary Hassan Noor defended the CS, saying that that she was absent on official duty on the day of the event, and had to send a representative.
Noor also explained that Farah’s gaffe was just a slip of the tongue, and that a heartfelt apology has already been tendered to the event’s sponsors.
“The CS was just appointed a few weeks ago and she is yet to settle. In fact she has meetings planned for the next two weeks with the stakeholders, starting with sports editors and federation officials.
“The ministry is very committed to sports, and I can assure you that you will be seeing a lot more activity from the CS within sporting circles once she has properly settled down,” Noor said.
Mohammed was expected back in the country Monday night from Dubai where she attended the award ceremony of Peter Tabichi, a Kenyan teacher who won the 2019 Global Teacher Prize.
The crowd’s hostile reaction on Saturday night was however an elaborate demonstration of the public’s growing displeasures with the goings-on within the sports ministry, and the 57-year old now has her work cut out to win the support of local sports lovers and to gain their support.
Amina was appointed Sports CS on Friday, March 1 to replace Rashid Echesa, who was dismissed unceremoniously by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
This followed a tumultuous year at the Education Ministry in which she seemed to lurch from one crisis to another.
Mohamed sparked outrage last December when she told a Senate sitting that the 2-6-3-3-3 education curriculum would not be rolled out this year as earlier planned because the ministry was not ready for it, only to make an about-turn and announce that the curriculum plans would go as earlier planned.
She has however carved out a respectable career in the world of international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation, Unep, the International Organisation for Maritime among others.
