Principal Secretary in the ministry of sports Kirimi Kaberia on Tuesday
distanced himself from a pledge made by Deputy President William Ruto saying the pronouncement was made in his absence.
Ruto pledged to pay Ksh50 million reward to the Harambee Stars if they qualified for the 2019 AFCON which they did.
Kaberia appeared before the committee chaired by the Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka to present the ministry’s budget proposal for the 2019-20 financial year.
Munyaka expressed concern that the money is yet to be paid and could lead to low morale in the camp but made it clear it was not possible to factor it into the budget because the pronouncement by Ruto was not an official government position but a person pledge.
“It cannot be in the budget because it was not an official government promise,” Munyaka told the PS on Tuesday, suggesting that if the Ksh50 million is part of the Ksh244 million Harambee Stars budget for AFCON, then it should be separated because the gift was a pledge tied on the performance of the team on the road to qualifying for the tournament.
He added: “The promise must be honoured because failure to do so will trigger a hue and cry in the team and puncture the morale of the boys ahead of the tournament.”
Stars need Ksh224 million to participate in this year’s AFCON scheduled for Egypt from June.