This archive report was first published on 22 October 2019.
Kenya's sports sector has long been plagued by broken promises from politicians. The latest example is Kibra aspirant McDonald Mariga's promise to upgrade Woodley Ground to a multi-sports ultra-modern stadium.
Mariga's promise is not unique, however. The Jubilee government, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, has been criticized for unfulfilled promises in the sports sector. In 2013, they promised to build five world-class stadiums in different counties, including Nairobi, Kisumu, and Eldoret, before 2017.
However, when campaigning for the 2017 general elections, no new stadium had been built, and promises of more stadiums were flowing in. The government's commitment to deliver on the stadiums was solid, according to Ruto, who said that the building of 11 stadiums is a promise that the government is still planning to fulfill.
“Our commitment to deliver on the stadia is solid. We had a time frame. Of course, unfortunately as fate would have it, we went into a second election and spent about Sh13 billion part of which was supposed to be deployed to do some of those things,” Ruto explained.
Despite the promises, sportsmen and women do not see any changes in the sector. The government and the various sports governing bodies have told Kenyans and the athletes that there is no money so they will have to work with what’s available. The athletes suffer the most while the politicians maintain their good images with empty promises.
