FKF says a lot yet to be done as Achesa replaces Wario

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa has urged nominated Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Mohammed Achesa to prioritise on building and improving sports infrastructure after he was named to replace Dr. Hassan Wario.

Achesa, a former Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Youth leader in Kakamega, was among the 11 new faces named in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Cabinet with Wario handed a diplomatic assignment as Kenya’s Ambassador to Austria.

Formerly known as the Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts, the department has been rebranded as the Ministry of Sports and Heritage with Peter Kaberia retained as the Sports PS while Josphetta Mukobe will be the Heritage PS.

“We welcome him to the world of sports and wish him the best. There are many projects that are already ongoing so we call for his support, zeal, and speed in delivering to Kenyans,” Mwendwa told Citizen Digital.

Dr. Wario’s appointment as a diplomat takes him back to international assignments that he was used to before he was picked for the cabinet five years ago.

He exits the stage leaving a contrasting legacy as his achievements remained shadowed by scandals including the Rio fiasco and more recently CAF’s decision to strip Kenya of African Nations Championship (CHAN) hosting rights.

However, under his watch, Kenya witnessed the passing of the Sports Act as well as the creation of the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) and the Sports Dispute Tribunal.

He also led his then PS Kaberia and Joe Okudo (Culture) in a spirited push to ensure Kenya hosted a successful IAAF World Under-18 Championship, an event that later witnessed record stadium attendances.

Achesa takes over at a time when sports federations, unions, and clubs are facing crunch times owing to lack of funding after gaming firm sponsor cancelled all local partnerships over a tax row with the Government.

The Government imposed a 35 percent tax levy on all betting companies with monies collected earmarked for funding ministries activities.

At the same time, Sports Principal Secretary Ambassador Kirimi Kaberia led the sporting fraternity in welcoming the nomination of Achesa  Mohammed to head the ministry.

“I am very happy… I want to thank the President for showing confidence in me and my support team from the Ministry and even from the media lead by the Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK).

“We need to develop more infrastructure, regulations and standards in sports so that we can promote transparency and honest sportsmanship,”  Kaberia who retained his position as the Sports Principal Secretary,said.

Athletics Kenya president Lieutenant General (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei and the Table Tennis Association boss Andrew Mudibo were among the federation’s bosses that welcomed Mohammed.

“We need a lot of support from the Ministry to help us in fulfilling our calendar and programme,”said Tuwei.

Mudibo asked the CS to treat all federation’s with equality including the ‘smaller ones’.

” While we wholeheartedly welcome Rashid, we would like him to continue implementing the Sports Act so that we can have functional structures especially the Sports fund which has not been operational, ” said Mudibo.

Additional reporting by Charity Wanja