Sports CS Echesa refuses to field questions as he takes over office

Rashid Echesa, the new cabinet secretary for sports and heritage, Tuesday officially assumed office in a handover ceremony presided over by sports principal secretary Kirimi Kaberia and attended by former sports cabinet secretary Hassan Wario.

Echesa refused to take questions from journalists present, but in his short address, he promised to “weed out cartels” whom he said are stifling the growth of sports in the country.

“It is with great joy that I take up this role. Sports is no longer a pass time, but a thriving industry that can be a source of livelihood to many.

“I will look at the reports from the previous regime and then come up with a suitable roadmap at an appropriate time. I want to let the cartels in this industry know that I am after them. This is an official notice. Any cartel that is involved in sport and any official who is involved in unscrupulous deals in this industry should start praying that I don’t catch up with them,” he said at Kencom House, Nairobi.

Echesa was sworn into office last Friday afternoon despite harsh criticism levelled against him based on his poor educational background.

The former boxer was nominated to this position on January 26 this year President Uhuru Kenyatta replacing Dr Hassan Wario, who was handed a diplomatic job as Kenya’s ambassador to Austria.

Echesa’s confirmation by parliament ended Wario’s five year tenure during, which he was implicated in a number of scandals, chief among them being the Rio fiasco during the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, where athletes were terribly mistreated and funds misappropriated.

The sports fraternity received news of his appointment with glee, but this was short-lived as it emerged that Echesa’s formal education ended in primary school.

He finds the sports fraternity smarting from the departure of betting company SportPesa, who were financial partners with a number of sports federations and clubs including the Kenya Rugby Union, Kenyan Premier League limited, Kenya Harlequin rugby team as well as Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards football clubs.

His first assignment will now be to get the Sports Fund up and running, and also to ensure the self-sustainability of the different sporting disciplines.