Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affair, Arts and Sports Ababu Namwamba on Wednesday promised support for the inaugural Sports Journalists Association of Kenya(SJAK) Awards.
Namwamba was speaking during the award ceremony to award and celebrate Sports and Creatives Journalists at Weston hotel in Nairobi.
The CS commitment comes after SJAK president James Waindi urged the ministry to come on board and help recognise and reward Sports Journalists who cover and highlight the stories of athletes, but don’t get to be recognised themselves.
“In our midst we have journalists who are talented in various fields besides being journalists.We have master’s of ceremony, photographers and therefore if you have occasions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me, I’m a phone call away. We want to reward ourselves. We tell stories of sports personalities across various disciplines, who will tell ours? and that’s why we are reaching out to you and the government at large to come on board and make the event, which is one of a kind a success,” said Waindi.
“A society that does not honour its heroes, does not inspire heroism,” those were the words borrowed from Winston Churchill by CS Namwamba while reiterating the need for athletes to be celebrated when they are still alive.
“Let’s give those banquet of flowers to athletes while they can still scent, touch and feel. To the journalists, let’s work together, support us, if need be, criticize but positively. Keep us in check. I’m here to assure you that we recognise and value your work. You help put and brand our country on the map. If veterans like Elias Makori of Nation Media Group and Elina Shiveka of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation can be recognised world wide, why not celebrate them locally?” posed Namwamba.
