President William Ruto has Monday commended the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts’ efforts to revive sports and arts space in the country.
He made the pronouncement in his address to the nation during the 59th Jamhuri Day Celebrations.
“My administration recognizes sports and the arts as a mega industry that can employ millions of our youth and help grow our economy, “ said Ruto.
He added that his administration through the Ministry of Youth Affairs Sports and the Arts, under the leadership of CS Ababu Namwamba had moved with speed to streamline the sports and the art space.
“We have moved with speed to get our football back, to protect Kenya’s proud athletics pedigree from doping, & to streamline collection & distribution of royalties to our artists, “ he said.
“Through the revolutionary ‘TALANTA HELA’ Plan, we will rebuild and monetize our sports and creatives industry.”
The President revealed that he had accepted to champion a grassroots football development program that will see the national government work with county governments to invest heavily in youth football.
“Arrangements are at an advanced stage to launch a Bottom-up football tournament to be contested by under-19 teams from all 47 Counties. We will work with our governors for each County to build a team right from the ward level. This plan is the first step in our target to get Harambee Stars to play at the 2030 World Cup as well as Kenya’s bid to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations,” Ruto announced.
He called for all stakeholders in the sporting space to work together to revive the arts and Kenya’s football.
“Let us work together to build Kenyan football Bottom-up, from the grassroots of our villages to the grand stage of the World Cup.”
Namwamba has deliberately rolled out a robust plan to turn the arts and the sports arena into a mega industry, a key economic driver and a leading employer for Kenyans.
