NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 5 – New Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke says he will work on an insistence of a bottom-up approach in his bid to improve sports in the country, as he officially took charge of the docket on Monday morning.
The former Nairobi Deputy Governor takes over from Joe Okudo, who had been serving in the ministry over the past two and a half years.
Mueke says the only way to grow sports in the country is to have an insistence on grooming talent from a young age, and he says he will seek to work closely with the Ministry of Education to maximise on the opportunity presented by school games.
“I will look to work very closely with the Ministry of Education to make sure that we begin to tap talent at an early age from Primary School and Secondary School. We need to tap the infrastructure of schools to make them a breeding ground for talent so that we can create a pipeline of talent that rises from the bottom all the way up to national teams,” Mueke said.
He has also said there will be a discussion on restructuring the Sports Fund to ensure better financing of activities for the State Department of Sports.
“We will be working very closely with the Sports Fund to restructure how we distribute resources and ensure we do it properly so that we can begin to perform better as a ministry,” he further said.
As the accounting officer in the Ministry, Mueke says they will do their best to ensure national teams are well funded, but has challenged Federations to be more accountable and transparent in their dealings.
“We will collaborate with Federations to serve for the purpose of our players. They are the main stakeholders in the industry and the goose that lays the golden eggs. We will work with the Federations to build capacity to deliver for our players,” he said.
National team finding has been a massive issue for the Ministry. This year, Malkia Strikers had to extend the begging bowls to honour a training camp in
At the same time, Mueke has promised a collaborative approach in his tenure, saying he wants to ensure that all stakeholders are involved in decision making.
Meanwhile, outgoing PS Okudo says he leaves the Ministry proud especially after steering through a tough period.
“The last two and a half years have been challenging and exciting. We have achieved a lot in sports infrastructure and we have also successfully bid for various events because of the teamwork in the Ministry,” said Okudo.
The handover ceremony at the Ministry Headquarters was also attended by Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba, who says he is now relieved that he has a helping hand in implementing the Ministry’s ambitions.
