Namwamba: State spent Sh147m in Budapest World Championship
Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba addressing journalists during a presser at Weston Hotel in Nairobi on October 10, 2023.
What you need to know:
- In the breakdown of the expenditure, Namwamba said Sh21.6 million was spent on rewarding winners during the championship where Kenya won three gold medals, three silver and four bronze medals.
Kenya spent Sh147.29 million to facilitate Team Kenya at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has said.
Appearing before the Senate yesteron Wednesday to answer questions from senators regarding the assignment, Namwamba said return air tickets took up Sh76.8 million, while Sh36.69 million went towards payment of allowances for the team.
In the breakdown of the expenditure, Namwamba said Sh21.6 million was spent on rewarding winners during the championship where Kenya won three gold medals, three silver and four bronze medals.
Some Sh11.67 million was used in paying for accommodation for the athletes while in Hungary while another Sh466,000 went into receiving the team after their conquest in Budapest.
“In terms of the budget for this particular assignment, the budget comes down to Sh147,299,127,” said Namwamba.
He was responding to a question from Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei on the ministry to provide information on the facilitation of Team Kenya’s participation in the World Athletics Championship in Budapest.
The Senator wanted Namwamba to also disclose details of sponsorship agreements, athletes’ selection and amounts expended in the purchase of uniforms and air tickets and paid as allowances and rewards to each participant.
On the question on kitting, the Sports CS said there was no provision for uniforms from the government because Team Kenya is kitted by Nike as a branding partner.
“As far as athletics is concerned, Athletics Kenya and National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) has a contract with Nike with regards to the annual kitting of Team Kenya. It is that partner who normally kits Team Kenya to such assignments,” he said.
The CS said the government has revised the rewards scheme for the entire sports ecosystem, raising rates for both allowances and cash rewards. He said according to the new scheme, allowances have been tripled from Sh1,000 to Sh3,000 for local camping and between Sh8,940 ($60) and Sh29,800 ($200) for out-of-country or in-competition daily stipends.
Namwamba said they have introduced a new cash award of Sh5 million for breaking a world record, with Faith Kipyegon and Kelvin Kiptum as the first beneficiaries of the new scheme.
“We also significantly raised rewards for medal winners to Sh3 million for gold medal, Sh2 million for silver and Sh1 million for bronze,” he said.
Further, the ministry has introduced the Hongera Awards which, among other firsts, rewarded legends going back to the 1960s while also settling Sh25 million in cash rewards arrears dating back to 11 years.
In regards to team selection, he said the first two athletes to cross the finish line were automatically selected, provided they had met the World Athletics Entry Standards with athletes who wished to compete in multiple events permitted to do so, but the decision to allow them to double at the world championships was at the discretion of the selection panel.
“If necessary, the selection panel had the authority to decide on the selection of the third athlete in the events mentioned above,” he said.
The CS added that even wild card athletes, who have the privilege of entering a sports competition without having to go through qualifiers or meet specific rankings, were required to compete in the trials and if there were two wild cards, the fastest among them was chosen for selection.
