President William Ruto will unveil the Talanta Hela program on Thursday next week as the government seeks to discover, develop and commercialise talents among Kenyans.
A master plan for developing all sports facilities and stadiums in the country is at the same time, almost complete and will soon be unveiled by the Ministry of Sports.
Talanta Hela Council has two technical committees, one for sports and one for creatives.
Cabinet Secretary for Sports Ababu Namwamba said government was committed to nurturing talents among the youth in the country.
“The Talanta Hela program will cover sports, arts, fashion, pageantry, theater, film and music which has great potential to create employment opportunities,” Mr Namwamba said.
“We have shifted from the Big Four Agenda to Bottom-up economic transformation that will see development programs and projects implemented in a coherent manner to the benefit of the people. It is in that spirit that we are developing a master plan for sports facilities in the country” the CS said.
He was speaking in Bomet when he toured the IAAF Stadium which the national government has taken over so as to complete construction that has stagnated for the last five years.
“Looking at the work done and the colossal sums spent, it was haphazardly done, there is a lot of mayhem and confusion, total lack of coherence, planning and foresight,” Namwamba said.
He stated that moving forward, haphazard development of stadiums in the country would not be allowed.
“All future sporting facilities and stadium should only be developed with a clear policy and plan for its use so we understand who is doing what, where and for what purpose and at what cost,” Mr Namwamba stated.
“Bomet is the cradle of champions and talents which if nurtured will give the youth employment opportunities and turn around the country’s economy,” Mr Namwamba said.
The CS said parts of the stadium will be demolished as they are not structurally sound, while other sections will be retained.
“We cannot as of now tell you the completion timelines of the facility, as we are waiting for a technical report from an ongoing inspection so as to determine the work required to be undertaken,” Mr Namwamba said.
Construction of the stadium was started during the tenure of former Governor Isaac Ruto, but stalled under his successor the late Dr Joyce Laboso and incumbent Professor Hillary Barchok.
