Joe Okudo was a previous PS in the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture. Photo/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 14 – Joe Okudo is the new Sports Permanent Secretary (PS) while Ambassador Kirimi Kaberia who held the docket for the last two years has been moved to the Ministry of Mining and Petroleum.
This is after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday reshuffled his Cabinet where seven Ministries had new Cabinet Secretaries with Ambasador Amina Mohamed retaining her position as the Sport Cabinet Secretary.
Okudo, who also served as the PS in the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture, joined the Sports Ministry from the Tourism ministry where he held a similar position.
Kaberia has had a rough time with federations who accused him of denying them funds from the Sports Fund Lottery.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) boss Nick Mwendwa and his Kenya Rugby Union counterpart Oduor Gangla singled out Kaberia as the stumbling block in the ministry of sports to them receiving funds.
For FKF, the rift between the two escalated with the Egypt debacle where Harambee Stars players were allegedly almost kicked out of the hotel where they were putting up after the Government allegedly delayed paying the hotel.
However, Kaberia in turn accused sports federations of waging an unfair war against him over the administration of sports funds.
He accused sports bodies of running away when held accountable for funds disbursed to them
Kaberia defended himself against a series of accusations leveled against him by the federations, claiming they attempt to engage in fraud by inflating budgets of their teams in order to defraud Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund.
The PS protested against serious accusations leveled against him, saying the claims from federation chiefs were untrue and have tainted his character.
