By OUR CORRESPONDENT
The National Assembly Committee on Sports and Culture has pledged to advocate for the strengthening of the Office of the Sports Registrar to enhance its service delivery capacity.
Committee Chairperson, Hon. Dan Wanyama, emphasized the strategic importance of the office within the sports sector and noted that its current staffing levels are insufficient to handle its growing workload.
“We are concerned that the Sports Registrar is currently operating alone, yet the office is responsible for a wide range of critical functions,” said Hon. Wanyama, who is also the Member of Parliament for Webuye West.
“The officer is overstretched due to inadequate staffing, and our Committee will advocate for the recruitment of additional personnel to support the office.”
Wanyama made the remarks during a consultative meeting with key government agencies involved in the development and promotion of sports.
Participants included representatives from the Kenya Sports Academy, the Office of the Sports Registrar, and the Sports Fund, among others.
The meeting aimed to assess the agencies’ operations and reinforce transparency and accountability.
The Committee Chair also called on the Sports Registrar’s Office to expedite the digitisation of its services to improve efficiency and accessibility.
“Digitisation of the Registrar’s services is long overdue,” he noted, adding that the Committee will advocate for increased budgetary allocations from the National Treasury to support this initiative.
Additionally, the Committee endorsed a proposal by the Sports Registrar’s Office to decentralise its services.
Wanyama said decentralisation would ease the burden on clients who currently incur significant travel costs to access services only available in Nairobi.
During the meeting, the Committee was informed that the Sports Fund had settled over Kshs. 100 million in outstanding payments to athletes who had won medals in international competitions.
The Fund also financed the recent Safari Rally, with Kshs. 1.1 billion spent—nearly Kshs. 500 million of which covered hosting rights.
The Committee learned that the Fund currently collects more than Kshs. 1.2 billion in revenue each month.
“As an oversight body, our Committee is deeply committed to ensuring that taxpayer-funded agencies are transparent, accountable, and compliant with regulations, all fostering growth in the sports sector,” said Wanyama.
He reiterated the Committee’s commitment to advocating for adequate and timely funding for sports-related institutions to address persistent resource challenges.
