President Uhuru calls for restoration of Kenya’s sporting glory

President Uhuru Kenyatta today at State House, Nairobi, challenged the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund Oversight Board, to utilize resources at its disposal to restore the country’s sporting glory, promote the arts, and preserve Kenya’s rich national heritage.

Speaking after being briefed on the progress made by the board in achieving its broad mandate, President Kenyatta said sports and the arts has the potential of being a major source of jobs for Kenya’s youth if well resourced and managed.

“We need to revive sports and the arts in the country. One way of doing that is to motivate our young people through adequate resourcing,” the President said.

He said that as part of fulfilling its mandate, the board should be able to facilitate all national teams participating in international games not only by funding them but also by branding them with national colours through provision of uniforms and other supplies necessary for the teams to succeed.

“You need to be in the forefront of building strong national sporting teams through provision of adequate funding as well as through branding and provision of the necessary supplies they need to excel,” said the President.

President Kenyatta asked the sports oversight board to ensure that activities under its mandate which include national heritage, culture and the arts are fully catered for, saying preservation of the country’s heritage and culture will help in building a strong reference point for future generations.

He tasked the board to ensure that Kenya’s heritage sites and resources including museums, monuments and artefacts are properly mapped, secured, resourced and managed.