The cabinet secretary for youth affairs and sports Ababu Namwamba on Tuesday presided over the launch of the KCB Group East Africa Golf tournament, which takes place across 12 counties, with participants from 5 East African countries.
The CS lauded KCB Group for their commitment to support Kenya’s sporting sector, adding that the support has helped put Kenya in the league of sporting powerhouses.
“I wish to commend KCB for their pivotal role as a crucial sports partner in this country. The ministry recognise your invaluable input in the sports ecosystem, which has directly caused positive impact in the livelihoods of many sportsmen and women,” quipped the CS.
CS Namwamba added that the tournament fitted well into the Ministry’s flagship #TalantaHela program, which seeks to monetize talents and put money in the pocket of Kenya’s sportsmen and women.
“This tournament which will also see the youth and the ladies take part clearly fits into our #TalantaHela initiative, where we are about identifying and nurturing talents with a view to monetizing the sector and ensuring that our sportsmen and women live well earning from their talent, all while doing what they love.”
“The tournament dovetails into our #SportsSafari agenda, which seeks to leverage sports to brand Kenya as a top tourist destination and is in line with the government’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) which seeks to build our economy from the Bottom,” he added.
CS Namwamba applauded KCB for incorporating environment conservation in the tournament, through the #LindaMiti initiative, which will see the Bank plant over 1 million trees to support the government’s 15 billion trees agenda in 10 years.
“The #LindaMiti initiative will ensure that through sports, KCB contributes towards protecting our environment and making our world greener and safer for all of us,” he said.
On his part, KCB Group HR Director Mr. Japhet Achola, who was representing the CEO, assured the CS of the Bank’s readiness to partner with the ministry to support the various sporting projects in the country and to ensure Kenya’s sporting ecosystem is elevated to the next level.
“Sporting is a huge part of our brand promise. As a bank, we are keen to explore more areas of collaboration and partnership with the ministry so that we can continue to positively transform the livelihoods of Kenyans in line with our brand purpose, for people for better,” he said.
He added: “To the Ministry, I want to assure you that you can count on us for unwavering support. We want to put Kenya on the regional and international stage as one of the golf sport destinations in Africa.”
