Sports

Nairobi County, NOCK reaffirm commitment to create sporting hub

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022 05:00 | By
sakaja
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja. PHOTO/Courtesy

National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) yesterday requested Nairobi County to make a number of Social Halls and other amenities available for use in sports activities by city residents.

The request was made when the NOCK Executive Committee paid Governor Johnson  Sakaja a courtesy call in his office yesterday. NOC-K and Nairobi County already have an existing MOU signed with the previous administration towards the construction of a community sports project dubbed, OlympAfrica, in Ruai. The County government has provided NOCK with the land for the project that will see the apex sports body build a sports complex for the youth within the Ruai Community in conjunction with the continental Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA).

Making the appeal to fast track the process towards relaunching of the project by the Governor, NOC-K second Vice-President, Waithaka Kioni, speaking on behalf of the president, Paul Tergat observed that Nairobi used to have social halls for indoor sports activities in the past, which saw the youth gather both to train and play local tournaments hence leading to talent identification while at the same time building positive values of teamwork, association, and volunteerism for cause-related initiatives. Kioni also noted the role County Governments play at the grassroots in the development of sports, which is an enabler towards the transformation in the social and economic progress of communities, something the OlympAfrica project is founded upon.

“I believe the future is very bright for our athletes and youths in Nairobi as we provide them with opportunities and platforms to express their talents, a move that will contribute to reducing the social vices currently rampant such as crime,” Kioni said while applauding the Governor for his vision to create the City into Africa’s sports hub with state-of-the-art facilities development.

Governor Sakaja welcomed the participation of NOC-K in complementing the county’s efforts to ensure the city has not only enough but internationally accepted facilities that can host any major sports event. The governor urged NOC-K to identify partners that will commit fully to funding the Project to ensure its successful and timely delivery to the intended beneficiaries, assuring that his government was fully behind the OlympAfrica initiative. He said that his government had already identified various facilities to be developed and completed to the highest standards within his tenure.

because “Kenya and, remains better placed than other countries in the region as ideal for sports,” he said.

The meeting that was also attended by the County Deputy Governor, H.E. James Njoroge Muchiri, and other senior county officials, alongside NOC-K Secretary General, Francis Mutuku and Treasurer, Anthony Kariuki lauded the approach of partnerships in development as the “way to go” into the future.

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