The Kenya National Rugby Sevens team, Shujaa, has been awarded Sh5.7 million by Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba.
On Wednesday evening, June 5, the CS presented Shujaa with a cheque during a dinner at the Weston Hotel, Nairobi, following their return to the HSBC World Rugby series.
While presenting the team with the cheque, Namwamba noted that Shujaa’s success was a result of a combined effort and incredible investment.
“This performance and milestone is not an accident but a result of true efforts, incredible investment, and difficult decisions made progressively.” Namwamba said.
He further acknowledged the individual sacrifices of the players, citing that they were made by a fairly young squad and that the success of the team was in line with the government’s Talanta Hela agenda of having a pipeline that will continuously feed national teams.
Shujaa made a great comeback to the World Series on Sunday, June 2, after being relegated last year. Before the relegation, the team had been in the series for a period of 19 years.
Shujaa returned to the series after thumping Germany 33-15 in a relegation-promotion playoff match held in Madrid, Spain.
Kenya Sevens has previously been a heavyweight in the challenger series, and its focus now will turn to the Olympic Games in Paris, which will kick off on July 26.
Shujaa trounced South Africa last year in September to lift the Africa Rugby Sevens title and earn their Olympics ticket.