Sports CS Namwamba deflects pressure on Paris 2024 delegation list to NOCK

In a statement issued on Thursday, CS Namwamba stated that NOCK was given the daunting task of following a Preparatory and Management Committee (PMC) to iron out logistics ahead of the Paris competitions.

NOCK has been tasked with compiling a finalised list of the athletes, officials, and medics who will be travelling, as well as detailing each member's specific role.

"The delegation to be kept at the barest minimum as directed by myself and affirmed by the PMC. The priority is athletes, their coaches and medics," said Namwamba.

The Olympics committee was also tasked with providing full details of the trip's budget, including the actual number of qualified athletes, a revised scale of allowances, and athlete rewards while remaining within the ministry's austerity guidelines.

NOCK will also need to provide a detailed report on the process, status, and cost of Team Kenya's ceremonial, training, and competition kits.

"We wish Team Kenya good health and great success as they fly our national flag on the world's grandest sporting stage," he added.

Namwamba has come under intense public pressure, particularly from renowned content creator Dennis Ombachi, who is concerned that the CS will include tens of unnecessary hangers-on on the trip.

Ombachi has pledged to devote all of his energies to the CS in order to hold the ministry accountable for its actions.

To quell the growing clamour, Namwamba told Ombachi that he was willing to host him to discuss the issues raised with the goal of streamlining the ministry.

"My joy is the growth of sports in Kenya as a key economic driver, and the sustainable success of sportsmen and women. I would be glad to host you, and many others, on a day of your choice, for a public forum where we would, foremost, listen to you all, before we share on the work of the ministry, since I took over, and the vision that I have for the Ministry," Namwamba wrote on X. 

"It would be great having you, and many others, as accountability partners in this journey. Waiting to hear on When and Where. X or the Ministry?"

Despite his efforts to calm the masses and invite them to the table, Kenyans have refused to rest until the list is made public, with some even going to court to demand it.