The Cabinet Secretary for Sports Salim Mvurya has highlighted the critical importance of nurturing grassroots football in the country.
CS Mvurya says plans were underway to roll out the inaugural Mashinani National Football Cup, a nationwide league scheduled to commence next month and culminate in the finals in December 2025.
Mvurya who was accompanied by Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi spoke in Kwale county after meeting the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Sports and Culture.
Mashinani league will support, promote and strengthen grassroots football in the country and beyond.
The CS says the new Mashinani initiative is an important step in the right direction for both the development of grassroots sport and the promotion of sporting excellence among the citizenry.
He said he met the parliamentary committee led by its chairman Dan Wanyama to brief them on the ongoing progress and procedures his ministry is advancing regarding the securitization of the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund (SASDF), as well as strategies to enhance resource mobilization for the Fund.
“We are proposing a review of the Sports Act, 2018, with the aim of ring-fencing the SASDF through strengthened legal frameworks,” he said.
He said they are scaling up interactions with key stakeholders within the sports ecosystem in the country in a bid to come up with a holistic new sports industry policy.
“We want to bring all the critical stakeholders in football onboard to ensure that they work in synergy with a view to harnessing the country’s huge potential in the beautiful game,” he said.
Mvurya said the move to review the Sports Act Would ensure clarity and specificity in funding priorities, thereby alleviating the growing pressure on the fund and enhancing its sustainability.
Mvurya emphasized that grassroots football is essential for uniting the youth from diverse backgrounds, fostering camaraderie and mutual respect through sportsmanship.
The Sports’ Minister said the Mashinani initiative would actively engage grassroots leaders, and was designed to promote grassroots participation, providing a structured platform for talented players to showcase their skills, from the ward level, through the counties, and ultimately at the national stage.
“The Mashinani tournament is in line with President William Ruto’s vision of growing untapped talent from the grassroots level to national and ultimately the international scene,” he said.
The Sports CS reiterated his ministry’s commitment to supporting grassroots football development and empowering young people through sports.
Mvurya stated that grassroots football serves as a ‘talent pool’ and plays a pivotal role in youth and community engagement.
He said his ministry was closely collaborating with the Ministry of Education in rolling out the Mashinani soccer tournament in June 2025.
“Already, the Ministry of Sports officials have trained 150 teachers in Kwale and a similar number in Nyeri county to ensure the success of the grassroots’ tournament,” he said, noting that Mashinani would be a major boost to grassroots football.
“We want Kenyans to view sports such as football and athletics where Kenya as a country is already known for its athletics prowess as an economic venture and not just a leisure activity,” he said.
He said Mashinani tournament would ensure that systems for scouring raw talent, coaching and player progression were fully operational and aligned with the national sporting policy.
Mvurya says the development is aimed at boosting grassroots football by ensuring that players across the country have access to quality playing fields.
“The modern football academies in the counties are expected to bridge the gap between local and professional-level football pitches,” he said.
PS Mwangi said they engaged the Parliamentary Committee on Sports and Culture to appraise the committee members on the status of all the keystone programmes and legacy projects being undertaken by the Ministry through the State Department for Sports.
Mwangi said these transformative projects were geared towards re-defining the entire sports architecture in Kenya through strategic investments in infrastructure in readiness to host two major continental football tournaments; CHAN in August 2025 and AFCON in 2027.
By Hussein Abdullahi
