Give resumption of sport events priority
By Christopher Owuor, October 2, 2020
It is not debatable that sports is a major contributor to economic and social development.
Granted, the role of sports should be prioritised by the government since it is a vital tool for players to eke out a living.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, most countries suspended sporting activities with Kenya being no exception.
However, despite the growing concerns and nature of the virus, it is only prudent that proactive measures are taken to ensure people who depend on the multi-billion shilling industry don’t continue to suffer unnecessarily.
And this is where the government has fallen short ever since the pandemic struck, resulting into disruption of all sports activities.
Players have not been able to participate in any sporting activity unless the ministries of Sports and Health give the go-ahead.
But while we congratulate President Uhuru Kenyatta for enacting a formula for the return of sports in consultation with the Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed, which saw the activities such as athletics, cricket and motor sports resume, more needs to be done to have other disciplines return to normalcy.
We need not be reminded that several countries including South Africa, Zambia, Angola, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco have fully resumed their sporting calendar while putting up measures to contain the virus.
There is also need to digest the news that closer home in Tanzania and Uganda, normalcy has returned in football, basketball and rugby, the vagaries of the pandemic not withstanding.
A layman would, therefore, wonder why the Kenyan government is dragging its feet in reopening sports and putting up the right measures to curb the virus, especially during this time clubs and national teams are gearing up for major international competitions.
Some of these teams include National football team Harambee Stars and Gor Mahia that have regional contests to prepare for.
We want to believe the re-opening of Nyayo National Stadium after refurbishment was one of the best things by the government and it would be absurb to let it remain idle.
We ask the relevant authorities to expedite the reopening of sports events.