Vihiga County secondary schools games put on ice over lack of funds

The Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) games in Vihiga County that were to start on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 have been postponed to next month over lack of funds.

According to Tom Justus Aura, KSSSA Deputy Chairman Vihiga chapter, their meeting with coaches at Ebusakami Girls Secondary School was interrupted by a communication from the County Director of Education David Koech, requesting them to put the plans on hold due to unavailability of funds.

“The County Director of Education told us that a decision had been made at the Western region level to have the games pushed to next month since many schools, especially day schools, were struggling to present their teams for this year’s fiesta,” said Aura.

“Most schools have had to foot team expenses from zonal level to qualify for the County finals. We are yet to receive 30% Term One school capitation, making it difficult for us to proceed with the competitions as planned,” he added.

This means secondary schools games fans will have to wait longer before experiencing the annual extravaganza that was organized in Luanda’s Bunyore Girls High School and Ebusakami, Mumboha and Esiandumba Secondary Schools.

Football and rugby matches were to be hosted at Emuhaya’s Es’saba and Esalwa grounds respectively.

Apart from Ibubi Girls Secondary School that was to host lawn tennis and table tennis, Bunyore Girls will host basketball games, while Mumboha Secondary will host netball and soccer matches, as Ebusakami and Esiandumba will play host to soccer games.

Aura says the games will be held from July 4, 2024 to July 6, 2024, if the government releases the capitation funds in time.

“The Form One capitation delays coupled with the 30% Term One arrears are making it difficult for schools to not only present their teams to the competitions, but also lack resources to pay match officials,” Aura said.

“We would prefer school games to be played as planned to avoid a scenario where a school loses a critical player to injury ahead of Western Region games. Injured players need time to heal and represent their teams at the regionals, but these delays may disadvantage some teams,” he added.