Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani has advised the youth to embrace sports for a healthy living and also to reduce their restiveness in the society.
Governor Achani said it’s high time the youth shun drug consumption and substance abuse and embraced sports so they can be self-reliant and become role models in the society.
She says her administration is determined to support diverse sporting activities to promote social cohesion in the region, noting that sports in general is a powerful tool for socio-economic empowerment.
According to the county boss, drug and substance abuse among the youth is very rampant thus causing a threat to the future of the coastal county.
“As a devolved unit our focus is to uplift and empower the youth through sports,” she said pledging to build football pitches and other sporting facilities across the county as part of her administration’s efforts to boost sports development.
Achani who was accompanied by her Deputy Chirema Kombo and other senior county officials cited the ongoing construction works of the Sh.450 million Kwale county stadium which is slowly taking shape.
She says the standard stadium which is set to hold up to 3,000 people will have football and basketball pitches among other sporting activities.
Other major amenities which the state-of-the-art stadium will hold include changing rooms, restaurant, athletics tartan track, medical rooms, washrooms and floodlights.
Achani says the youth should understand that drug and substance abuse can result in drug addiction, serious impairment like interfering with adolescent brain development, illness and death.
She challenged parents and guardians to entice their children to embrace sports so as to be fit and have a brighter future.
“We should encourage our children to embrace sporting activities rather than engaging in illicit acts of drug abuse and criminal activities,” she said, adding that the youth should embrace sports as an instrument of self-actualization.
Achani was speaking at Waa primary school grounds when she graced Rashid Abdallah Super Cup 3rd edition in Matuga Sub County.
The tournament which ended 2-0 in favour of Denmark over Lazium club was organized by Rashid Abdallah a Citizen TV Swahili news anchor.
The winner walked away with a cheque of Sh. 1 million while the second was issued with a cheque of Sh.500, 000.
Governor Achani thanked Abdalla for organizing the event and for his numerous contributions to football which she said positively impacted on the lives of youth in the coastal county.
While commending the organizers of the football talent hunt programme for bringing it to Kwale, Achani assured participants that the outstanding ones would be encouraged to realize their dreams of becoming football superstars in the future.
On his part Abdalla thanked the county government for creating an enabling environment for football and other sports in general to thrive, saying that without that it would have been impossible for him to pull through such an event.
The TV personality hailed the tournament saying it had discovered ‘raw youth talents’ which the county government should nurture.
He advised the youth to embrace sports as means to promote peaceful coexistence and cultural diversity in the society and for the region to realize meaningful development.
By Hussein Abdullahi
