Category Sports
Leveraging Sports for National Development John Kakonge
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Despite the importance of sports, it is an area which is underdeveloped and underfunded, especially in Africa.
The importance of sports has not been sufficiently appreciated by African governments for it to be integrated into their national development plans. There is no doubt that sports could play a critical role in attaining peace, development and stability.
Africa. Moreover, the sector has suffered from scandal, corruption and marginalization. This article explores the factors that have hindered mainly amateur sports (football and athletics) from taking its rightful place on the national development agendas of African countries.
Sports is an area of human interaction where respect for rules, teamwork and fair play are the norm. Teamwork, cooperation, abiding by the rules, respect for opponents and similar concepts all feature in the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Sports include all forms of physical exercise, whether local or imported, amateur or professional, casual or organized. Despite the importance of sports, it is an area which is underdeveloped and underfunded, especially in
1. Policy vacuum Some African countries have sports policies but the majority are fragmented and uncoordinated. Moreover, the ministries in charge of sports are often sandwiched in other ministries. The ministries or departments in charge of sports suffer from underfunding and are unable to support priority activities, let alone establish and enforce policies. For example, Steiner (2008) noted that the challenges of sports
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development in Ghana are a result of the fact that activities are limited since they are held but once a year. The athletes at the end of the competition go back to their region and village to wait a year or two for another regional event, making it difficult to develop new talent. In the case of the United Republic of Tanzania, a sports policy has been in place but it has suffered from a lack of implementation (Mwisukha and Mabagala, 2011). In Benin, a sports policy is in place, too, yet the government has no capacity to implement it. In Burkina Faso, there has been progress in implementing its sports policy (Keim and de Coning, 2014). In the case of Kenya, Keim and de Coning (2014) state that sports policies
