Kenya, no doubt, is a great sporting nation. Today, the country is best known for its award-winning athletes and tourism potential. Sadly, we are quickly gaining a reputation for wrangles, which have gone on to affect our performance.
Kenyan athletes have won almost every medal there is to be won internationally in the long races, although the country is yet to reclaim its former glory in the short races where it used to be a continental powerhouse.
The country has had a good run in Sevens rugby World Cup, bringing down the dreaded All Blacks of New Zealand and Springboks of South Africa at various legs of the competition as the country played in its first final of a World Cup event.
But the country is also a force to reckon with in women’s volleyball. Today, Kenya are unrivalled queens of junior and senior African volleyball and have severally featured at women’s volleyball World Cup, albeit with little success. The country has also won honours in women’s hockey at continental level where local clubs have featured and have gone on to represent Africa at the global stage.
However, success has consistently eluded Kenya in football, as the country has neither won an African nor world title. Save for the feat achieved by Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards decades ago, Kenya has no African title to speak of. Regionally, Tanzania and Uganda are quickly stamping their authority in junior and senior competitions as officials engage in power struggles.
The decision by Sports Minister Hellen Sambili to organise a stakeholders’ meeting following Harambee Stars’ poor performance is long overdue. As a country, we must learn to act on time instead of waiting for the last minute to engage in attempts at fire-fighting.
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