Nairobi Governor Gideon Mbuvi flagging off the Nairobi Team for the County Games on Sunday
NAIROBI, KENYA, Aug 13 – Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has promised to promote and reward the Nairobi City County sports team if they emerge victorious in the 2018 Kenya Inter County Sports and Cultural Association (KICOSCA) games.
The week-long games will kick off in Kisii County from Monday to Sunday August 19.
Governor Sonko wished all Nairobi participants in the KICOSCA games success, urging them to use the games as a platform to interact and understand each other.
He advised the players to showcase a good image of the Capital Nairobi at the games to reflect the city as the leading county in Kenya.
“As I present this county flag to you I will expect you to be Nairobi’s goodwill ambassadors in Kisii, that will reflect the enviable position of the Nairobi as the City of choice to invest, work and live in,” urged the Governor.
The Nairobi City County team is the defending champions of the last event that was held in Machakos in 2017.
“Nairobi is the microcosm of Kenya and it is only fitting that the City carries the Kenyan flag high as the bastion of sports,” said the Governor, who met the team prior to their departure to Kisii.
The team was presented with the county flag by the County Secretary and Head of County Public Service Peter Kariuki on Sunday morning at City Hall.
Kariuki performed this symbolic ritual in the county on behalf of the Governor who was held up in other government activities.
Speaking during the ceremony, Kariuki urged the team to maintain discipline during the games and he called on the teams to come back home victorious.
Education and Sports CEC Janet Ouko, County sports advisor Musa Otieno and other county officials were also present during the ceremony.
Kisii County is hosting the sixth edition of the games that were previously known as Kenya Inter Municipality Sports and Cultural Association (KIMSCA).
Nairobi City County will participate in all the 18 disciplines on the KICOSCA sports and games menu, making Nairobi the only side at the Kisii fete to participate in all the disciplines on offer.
Meanwhile, Kisumu County will miss the sixth edition of the games. The County Governor Prof Anyang Nyong’o announced that the county cannot afford to foot the expenses.
Nyong’o says the county is lacking enough resources that can be able to take the county athletes to compete in the upcoming tournament. He says the county is still struggling to pay pending bills he inherited from the previous government amounting to Sh. 1.8 billion.
Speaking to the press in Kisumu during a function to launch the second phase of the construction of Victoria Gardens Houses, Nyong’o says he is not ready to plunge the county into more debts.
He appealed to the athletes who had been training to take part in the competition to bear with the outcome.
