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Sports CS Kipchumba Murkomen is pushing for government to surrender stadiums to private entities, pointing to the failures of Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards as reason why change is needed.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen is rooting for model where government does not own stadiums but rather clubs or private entities.
Murkomen says the government is wasting a lot of money on stadiums that have no return on investment when clubs or private firms should be the ones commercialising them, citing the example of Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards who do not have a stadium over 60 years since their formation.
“Government’s shouldn’t be owning stadia if we properly unlocked the potential that’s in the sports sector. It’s a big shame that over sixty years since independence, none of our football clubs own a stadium,” Murkomen posted on social media.
“The National Govt should only own 2 or 3 facilities for state functions the rest should be owned and run by private sector. My job is to create conducive environment for investors to put their money in sports, to create wealth, grow the economy and employ our youth.”
Murkomen’s post came hours after he had appeared in Parliament to provide clarity on a number of issues in his docket, including the progress of infrastructure development in the country, specifically stadiums.
“We are exploring ways of collaborating with the private sector to enable them construct infrastructure. The ongoing review of the sports policy will provide clarity of this matter,” Murkomen said at the National Assembly.
“We are reviewing the sports policy to know how best the private sector can do the stadiums. I think that government should not be owning stadia, that is my personal position.
“All over the world, governments don’t own stadiums, it is costing a lot of money to the taxpayer without any much return but if it was owned by the private sector, they would commercialise it and it would be available for sports activities.”
He gave examples of other countries that have embraced this model and are reaping the benefits, unlike Kenya which is still far away from actualising it.
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13:00 - 25.09.2024
Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier blames Champions League woes on ‘low quality’ Kenyan league
Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier has cited the lack of quality in the Kenyan Premier League for his team’s poor performance in the CAF Champions League.
“A country like UK, the only stadium owned by government is Wembley the rest is owned by private companies and they are always available for sports events and this is the way to go, PPP [public private partnership] and other modalities must be applied to make sure that these stadia are maintained well so that not after every 10 years, we are putting billions of money to refurbish facilities that should have been income generating,” he added.
“Government should keep two or three, the rest either run my counties or private sector and clubs. If we had thriving clubs like Gor Mahia, AFC, Ulinzi and Shabana, they would buy these stadiums from government, pay back to the government and then it would be used for sports and that is why it is important to develop the sports so that it can facilitate the infrastructure that we need.”
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