By Felix Njenga
Kiambu County has for the first time missed out in participating in the Kenya Inter County Sports and Cultural Association (KICOSCA) games being held in Kakamega county due to financial challenges.
The 11th edition of the games has united county government workers through sports and cultural activities and aims to foster local talent and strengthen the hospitality industry with available resources where over 300 kiambu county workers will not be a part of.
The Kiambu workers are not happy with missing out on the fete since it is the only time they get to meet and interact with fellow workers in various county governments.
“The county government knew about the games since the start of this year and workers have been preparing to participate and had also attended a selection program only for it to be cancelled the last minute by the governor,” said John Njogu Gitothua ward MCA and the chairperson sports committee Kiambu county assembly.
Njogu said that there was no reason for Kiambu county to miss out on the games since funds are made available through the budget passed in the assembly.
“In the budget the assembly had allocated Sh 30 million for the games. The funds have been redirected to other matters,” he said.
He said that the executive has been redirecting funds to matters that were not intended for in the budget hence paralysing matters of importance to kiambu residents.
“The KICOSCA games are crucial for the workers as it will help them to network with other county workers. it motivates them and gives them an opportunity to participate in sports for their well being away from the usual work they do for a full year,” he said
According to the workers who participated in the selection to participate in the games and declined to be mention by names due to retribution said that they had never missed to participate in the games since they have always brought back trophies and raised the Kiambu county flag high
“We were engaged and also called in for selectio. We were excited that we will join our colleagues but after selection no communication has been done to us yet the games have already started,” a county government worker said.
Another county worker said that the county government has not yet paid them for four months of their salary and they were looking forward to participating in the KICOSCA games since they will be paid their per diem.
‘For a full year we have not been motivated by the county government. They expect us to perform our best yet they have not yet paid our salaries for four months. The KICOSCA game was to give us hope since we will get per diem so that we will be able to pay our bills and fend for our families,” said the worker.
A senior county officer said that the over 300 workers who were to participate in various games had been slashed to 120 who were selected to participate but were also not communicated to by the time the games had started.
Efforts made to reach out to the county executive committee member in charge of sports Osman Korar on the matter were futile since he did not respond. The office of governor Kimani wamatangi also did not respond to the matter.
