Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba, alongside Sports Principal Secretary Eng Peter Tum and PS Interior Ray Omollo, today hosted a celebratory breakfast for Police FC and Kenya Police Bullets.

The teams recently qualified for the CAF qualifiers and the CAF Women’s Champions League CECAFA qualifiers, respectively, thus the Police Bullets will represent Kenya in the CAF Women’s Champions League CECAFA qualifiers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from August 17 to Sept. 1, 2024.

CS Ababu noted that the team had been boosted by the Talanta Hela pipeline which has fed the women’s team with top talents such as the Harambee Junior Starlets captain Elizabeth Ochaka, who recently captained the junior starlets to the first-ever FIFA World Cup in Kenya’s history.

He assured the teams of the government’s full support, commending them for their discipline and success, highlighting the deliberate investment in sports and the creative economy to turn the talents into key drivers of the economy and to support livelihoods.

“President Ruto’s government is committed to transforming sports into a whole economy that can create jobs, support livelihood and contribute to the economic development of our nation,” he quipped.

Reflecting on the incredibly successful journey of sport and creative economy revamp in the country, the CS noted that his ministry had continued to deliberately and intentionally structure ways and support to completely transform these industries.

“We have been deliberate in our investment right from the school ball games where we invested over 267 million shillings to support talent identification at the base, to strike a deal with KBC for live broadcasts of football matches, with the ministry supplied Ksh. 240 million.

This guarantees each Premier League team a minimum of Ksh. 10 million upon the conclusion of the league,” he explained. The CS added that he had instructed the

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to host a KPL annual gala, where to award clubs and celebrate excellence from the season.

He noted that the support was part of the Talanta Hela initiative geared at growing talents across the sports and creative ecosystem. ” Talanta Hela is a godsend for us. It has given us a pipeline to identify talents from schools and grow those talents in a very deliberate,

intentional and structured style. Your team is full of Talanta Hela products, a clear indication of the success of this program,” he remarked. He encouraged the teams to prepare thoroughly, assuring them of full government backing to compete effectively in the regional games.

The CS called on them to replicate Gor Mahia’s 1987 Mandela Cup victory and bring the trophy home. “Since Gor Mahia won this cup in 1987, no Kenyan team has come close to winning it. Police Bullets, please go and bring this trophy back to Kenya,” he urged.

PS Ray Omollo, the team’s patron, expressed gratitude for CS Ababu’s support and lauded his impact on the sports sector since taking charge. He assured that the team is ready to deliver their best performance in the upcoming tournament.

On his part, PS Peter Tum reiterated the CS’s commitment to support the team, noting that as the ministry’s accounting officer, he was ready to provide all the necessary facilitation for the team as they headed to Adis Ababa.

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