Amos Abuga and Sandra Wekesa @PeopleSports11

Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed is upbeat the National Olympics Committee Kenya (NOC-K) will uphold values of transparency, accountability and integrity ahead of next year’s Tokyo Games in a bid to avoid a repeat of 2016 Rio de Janeiro fiasco that painted the country’s image negatively.

In what is seen as a different approach, Amina says the ministry will constitute the steering committee for the 2020 Games immediately after next month’s African Games, drawing from past lessons.

“I will personally supervise the management of the process to ensure that logistics details are addressed seamlessly to allow athletes to only focus on the games. NOC-K is also expected to provide monthly updates regarding the state of preparations,” Amina said on Wednesday evening during the launch of the road to Tokyo 2020 at a Nairobi hotel where NOC-K boss Paul Tergat, Mitsuhiro Kaboyashi from the Japanese Embassy in Kenya, businessman Manu Chandaria and legendary Kenyan athlete Kipchoge Keino also attended. 

Amina is confident NOC-K has learnt valuable lessons that can only make the country do better compared to three years ago.

To reiterate the government’s commitment towards supporting Team Kenya for the Games, the CS says the Ministry of Sports will make sure money from the Sports Fund to be used with utmost prudence and transparency to empower the country’s sportsmen and women.

Her remarks comes at the time NOC-K settled on long-serving Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) boss Waithaka Kioni as the Chef de Mission for the summer Games.

“We are deeply grateful to the people of Japan and through the Ambassador we wish to express our gratitude for the continued friendship and cooperation. 

We will work closely with the embassy as we prepare the Kenyan team for the games,” added Amina.

At the 2016 Rio Games in Brazil, Kenyan athletes complained of ill treatment before and during the games with kits meant for them ending up in the hands of officials.

The scandal led to the government launching a probe into the fiasco, resulting in  the arrest and subsequent arraignment of six officials among them former Sports CS Hassan Wario and then Chef de Mission Stephen Arap Soi.

The matter is still in court. “Sports unites us and this day is a reminder of the universality of humankind and how, despite our geographical boundaries, social, economic and other differences, we all belong to one human race.

We share the aspirations of peace, unity and collaboration,” said the sports boss.

In Rio, Kenya collected 13 medals, six gold, a similar number of silver and one bronze for their best ever performance in the history of the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Kenya Tae Kwon-Do Federation will send a team of 22 to this year’s All Africa Games in Rabat, Morocco. 

Federation president Suleiman Sumba says they had already selected the team and embarked on training to ensure they bag as many medals as possible at the continental event.

“We will have representation in all the eight categories at the Games. 

At the moment, the team is in Egypt taking part in an invitational event and I am certain they are picking vital lessons from their North African opponents. 

They will go to residential training immediately they return to the country next week,” said Sumba.

Thirty-two teams will fight for the two tickets, in boys’ and girls’ category, to represent the country in the second edition of the COPA Coca-Cola Africa championship.

Girls’ Pool A has Nyanza’s Ugari, 2016 champions Wiyeta, debutantes Dagoretti Mixed and Njabini from Central region while Pool B will see third runners up in last year’s championship Waa take on K’Obala Mixed, Maeni and Eastern’s Itaara.

Former champions Wiyeta will be seeking to stamp their dominance in the girl’s category after losing in the final last year. They will, however, face stiff competition from Dagoretti who are determined to make their debut count.

“We have lost in the regional finals in the last two editions but since we finally broke the deadlock, we are determined to go all the way. Most of the players feature in the Nairobi County league with a Kabete-based team and that has given them confidence that should help in this competition,” said Dagoretti coach Maurice Okumu.

In the boys’ category Pool A pits Goseta Boys against Koyonzo, Serani Gatamaiyu while Pool B has Dagoretti, Agoro Sare, Machakos Boys and a yet to be named representative from the North Eastern region.

Similarly, a new champion is in the offing in boys’ volleyball as holders Malava Boys miss this year’s edition.

Only three of the eight teams that will compete for the title featured in last year’s competition as a good number of teams are making their debut.

Lang’ata High, on their second appearance, are confident they have what it takes to go for the title as they start their maiden title camping in a relatively easy pool that has Western’s Namwela, Eastern’ Mutewa and a North Eastern region representative.

Last year, Lang’ata announced their arrival in the national games scene with a fifth place finish but coach Francis Mwangi says the experience gained in that competition will go a long way in helping them fight for the title.

“We have prepared well, playing against better teams like Strathmore University and few other local teams, as we expect the competition to be stiff. We are up against very new teams and one has to expect surprises against such opposition. 

We will play all our matches the same way we would a final match,” said coach Mwangi.