'How is the pressure?' Kenyans demand Sports CS Ababu releases list of Paris Olympics joyriders

Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has come under pressure to disclose the non-athletes accompanying Team Kenya to the Olympic Games in Paris.

In a demand letter to CS Ababu, three Kenyans want the ministry to release full details on the travelling party, failure to which they will seek legal action.

The petitioners, Charleen Njuguna, Jolly Lanji and Baverlyne Kwamboka, through their lawyers, have written to Sports CS Ababu Namwamba expressing their concern on the cost on Kenyans of the composition of the delegation to the games.  

“…Our clients are active citizens who, from the Rio experience, are concerned about the true cost of Kenya's delegation to the Paris Olympics. The Olympics run from Friday, 26 July 2024 to Sunday, 11 August 2024.”

"Under Article 35(2)(b) of the Constitution and section 4 of the Access to Information Act, 2016, our clients formally seek the following information from you: A list of all non-competitive participants travelling at public expense with the official Kenyan delegation to the Paris Olympics.”

The three also want to know how much each of the unnecessary hangers-on are being paid as allowances and their roles in the games.

“A schedule of the individual roles of each of the non-competitive participants travelling at public expense with the official Kenyan delegation to the Paris Olympics and a schedule of the allowances and sustenance costs for each of the non-competitive participants travelling at public expense to the Paris Olympics.”

The petitioners have given the CS seven days from July 8, 2024 when the letter was written, failure to which they will seek the court’s intervention to enforce the request.

This comes a few days after President William Ruto flagged off a team of participants to the Summer Games.

The letter also comes after CS Ababu over the weekend unveiled the official kit for the Kenyan Olympics team, which caused much furore online with Kenyans blasting the designers for what they have termed as cheap and ugly outfits.