- The summon comes in the backdrop of accusations from Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah over the mishandling of athletes.
- Ababu will give an explanation on why Kenya’s team to the Olympics flew out of the country without him flagging off.
Image: file
Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba who is under criticism from a section of Kenya Kwanza MPs over alleged mismanagement of sports will today appear before Parliament.
Ababu is scheduled to appear in the afternoon to respond to a question on the role of his Ministry in facilitating the Kenya team that attended the Special Olympics held in Berlin, Germany in June.
He is also set to explain about the management of aquatic sports in the country.
The summon comes in the backdrop of accusations from Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah over the mishandling of athletes.
Ichung'wah recently kicked off a storm saying it was unfortunate to see teams jetting back into the country yet no one from the ministry bother to celebrate or receive them.
"You were made a minister to serve the people and if you are made the minister of sports you must serve sportsmen and women of our country and it’s indeed extremely sad that such good ambassadors can leave our country without due recognition by the ministry in charge of that responsibility," he said.
He added, "To make matters worse they go represent our country out there, they win, come back and not a single minister from the ministry and the minister himself has the decency to receive them at the airport or even to recognise the good work they have done for our country."
Nandi senator Samson Cherargei rallied behind the MP asking him to summon the CS.
He claimed the athletes were being exploited sexually and economically and “parliament must summon the CS to avert disastrous mismanagement of our sports”.
"I echo the sentiments of Ichung'wah that CS Ababu continues to mismanage into oblivion our beloved sports. How can ministry officials fly first class with their girlfriends to Olympics Budapest, Hungary at the expense of our athletes?" he wrote.
National Assembly deputy speaker Gladys Shollei voiced similar sentiments claiming the athletes were not being treated fairly.
“The other day our team went to Tunisia for the beach games, they were wearing fake sports gear. By the time a country’s athlete wears fake uniforms then there is something wrong,” she said.
Ababu will give an explanation why Kenya’s team to the Olympics flew out of the country without him flagging off or any official from the ministry accompanying them.
“How and why the CS did not deem it reasonable to receive and celebrate the team for their monumental performance during their arrival into the country from the games,” reads the question of the order paper.
It adds: “What measures is the Ministry putting in place to ensure the anomaly of ill-treating athletes does not recur?”
On the management of aquatic sports, the CS will explain the plans in place to address discrimination, unfairness and opaqueness in the selection criteria of swimmers participating in various local, regional, continental and international swimming competitions.
He is further set to give an undertaking that the Ministry will facilitate Kenyan swimmers to participate in the World Aquatics event scheduled for February 2024 in Doha, Qatar and in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Additionally, he is expected to clarify why aquatics has historically been unable to comply with the rules and decisions of World Aquatics including holding elections even after a stabilization Committee was established on 28th June 2022.