On April 29—only two months after she was named Sports, Culture and Heritage Cabinet Secretary—on this column, I urged Ambassador Amina Mohamed to tighten her belt and brace for rough times ahead. At that time, I did not know how soon it would take for the times to come calling. We are already there and Amina is sobbing.

In the article, I reminded her that she plays in a coveted league envied by many and that she belongs to a revered class of great achievers and go-getters, both academically and professionally, locally and globally.

For starters, this is how I summarised the article: Amina needs to lift the level of our sports to a higher point… She has to delicately juggle her duties between politics, astute management and ridicule, gender-laced aspersion as well as religious-based tirades, ethnic barbs, scorn and absolute slander. Amina must stand and remain strong. She should not allow vendors of gossip and bedfellows of doom to drag her and her reputation into Kenya’s bottomless dustbins of failure at the Sports ministry.”

That being the case, it now emerges that Amina is facing a catalogue of labyrinths at the ministry and she is complaining loudly about it. 

Last month, she gave a motivational speech to government interns at the Kasarani Sports Complex where she took the youngsters through her journey of patience and success in the public service. But beneath the facade of her catchy sermon was an obvious tinge of self-pity in her voice and message.

On October 27, while presiding over the start of this year’s Standard Chartered Marathon, the minister lamented that the media were hostile in reporting her person and the ministry she heads, stating that whereas the record of her 35-year stint in the public service speaks for itself, there were concerted efforts by some forces to erode it. She wondered why the media was ignoring the achievements in her ministry since she assumed office and instead concentrating on the negatives. She even threatened to take legal action against purveyors of news allegedly tarnishing her reputation.

Let’s start from the basics. Not many take Amina seriously as the Sports minister, her impressive CV notwithstanding. She took over the docket when its overall performance and ratings were at their lowest ebb. 

At the time, both national federations and sports clubs were whirling in deep financial woes with some not able to travel out of their stations for international assignments and those that did, it was with lots of struggle. 

The Sports ministry has been judged in the public court as a fiddling corner for failures. Thus, by having been redeployed from Foreign Affairs to Education then to Sports dockets, which had previously been steered by ‘not-so-serious’ ministers, Amina was seen as having been demoted.

However, truth is the docket is not for the faint-hearted. Thus, instead of whining and threatening the media, Amina has to step up to the plate and deliver. She has everything it takes to put our sports on the front lane of the global arena, again. As she says, her record speaks for itself. Her achievements are not in contestation. 

And though Amina needs political and public support, both of which seem to be missing at the moment, she must build on her achievements and forge ahead instead of wailing and seeking pity. 

She needs to have known from the onset that sports administration is not an arena for the meek and feeble, which she is not; nor for the brilliant and radiant, of which she is; but a field for commoners, not privileged few.

She needs to remain smart . She must move fast and embrace the media to put her message across, bearing in mind that haters and saboteurs are inevitable.

The writer is Revise Editor at  People Daily

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