CS Amina pledges support to NOC-K ahead of busy sporting year

Cabinet Secretary (CS) Amina Mohamed on Friday 14 met newly elected members of the National Olympics Committee and assured the body of full government support in their 2022 events.

This being a major event, year for the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage and the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) the CS directed that qualification competitions commence immediately.

The Commonwealth Games will be held from the 28 July to 8 August and the African Youth Games from the 29 August to 7 September.

NOC-K is looking to draw lessons from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, aiming to continue the good performance areas and drastically improve on any areas that they may have had challenges or management gaps.

“I would like to start by congratulating the new office led by NOC-K President Dr. Paul Tergat, who has worked with me and the Ministry over the past four years. We have shared the same vision; the new term comes with a new mandate. It is quite clear the team has the confidence of the sports fraternity,” Amina said.

She continued, “This year is going to be a very busy year, especially for young athletes. Last year we had the Olympics where we were the top nation in Africa with an amazing bevy of medals and hosted the World U-20 Athletics event in Kasarani and Kenya led. We also hosted the Continental Tour and the World Safari Rally which was voted the best in 2021. With the new busy calendar ahead, you can count on our support.”

The CS also took note of some of the sports transformation agenda in the year 2022 which the NOC-K Executive Board has developed under an elaborate strategic direction that will inform and drive the delivery of key programs and sports events in the period 2022 – 2024.

These include the Commonwealth Games, Birmingham, set to happen in July which NOC-K is taking lead in, Africa Youth Games which will also be qualifiers for Youth Olympics. Continental Tour, World Rally Championship, Kenya Open, World Under-20 Championships, World Athletics Championships among others.

NOC-K President thanked the CS for her support. “Going forward we want to ensure each federation will do it’s best not only to participate but also win medals and propel the sports fraternity even into higher ranks," Tergat offered.