Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has warned sports federations in the country that have not aligned themselves with the Sports Act 2013, stating that the government will deal with them accordingly.
Namwamba was addressing a meeting between his ministry and representatives from 113 sports federations and organizations on Monday at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Upper Hill, Nairobi.
“Why is it so difficult to follow the law?” he posed.
Namwamba emphasized that federation heads must respect their term limits as a means of promoting the integrity of sports management.
“If your constitution has term limits, please obey the term limits because even the presidents of this country obey term limits.
“Some of you were in office when Daniel Moi was president; they were there when Mwai Kibaki was in power, they were still in office during the reign of Uhuru Kenyatta and are still in leadership this time around when William Ruto is president and am sure they are planning to say goodbye to Ruto as they remain in office,” he said.
The Sports Minister at the same time warned that the government is actively engaging with relevant global federations to ensure compliance with Kenyan laws regarding the tendency of some federations to operate under the umbrella of international sports bodies.
“I usually talk to your international bodies.I talk to FIFA, World aquatics and the others, don’t think you are the only ones talking to them and I have made it clear to most of them that sports in Kenya is big, sports in Kenya are important and we have told them to help us so that sports in Kenya can be run properly,” Ababu stated.
Adding: “Just follow the sports act and accede to the law and respect the constitution of Kenya. We will never touch a federation that is following the law and engaging in good governance, but for those ones who don’t want to follow the law, we will come for you.”
