There is need for the government to allocate more funds to sponsor sporting activities at grassroots and help young people nurture their talents, the Mathioya MP, Peter Kimari has said.
Kimari noted that less sports activities are witnessed in rural areas as much attention is given to cities and urban centres.
The MP noted that many talents among young people go without being exploited as youth lack forums to participate in sporting activities.
He noted that only young people in urban centres are lucky to get chances to participate in sports as many sponsors concentrate in towns forgetting young people in upcountry.
Kimari was speaking during a Half marathon race organized by his National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) at Kiriaini grounds on Saturday.
The legislator noted that Kenya is internationally known for producing best athletes, thus the government should consider providing more resources to nurture talents.
He said NG-CDF are allocated little money which cannot do much to sponsor various sporting activities. “At rural areas we have many talented young people but due to lack of chances to participate in games they end up being forgotten,” added Kimari.
“I am happy that Mathioya youth have demonstrated talents through the NG-CDF organized half marathon events, which will help them to participate in the national and international events,” stated the lawmaker.
The NG- CDF kitty, he added, will continue to sponsor such activities on annual basis. Kimari said sports have prevented many youth in the region from venturing into drugs and alcohol abuse.
In the men’s race, Geoffrey Njoroge and Dismas Mbaria emerged the first and second respectively while in the female category, Peris Njeri Ndonga was crowned the winner.
By Bernard Munyao
