Sports laws counties must come up with

By ANIL BAKARI

We have started to reap the huge benefits of devolution from county assemblies. If you have not been following news keenly, county ward representatives, have gone on overdrive making laws to ensure their regions remain sane and progressive.

In Kisumu, members want to ban women wearing skirts from sitting on boda bodas with their legs astride. Ha! How progressive? In Makueni, ‘county MPs’ want the governor to tithe. In Baringo, communities will be forced to intermarry for unity and in Kakamega, ‘kha kha’ language, famously known as luhya, will be the lingua franca.

Certainly, experts who drafted the Constitution must be smiling from their bedrooms of how their ideas are being implemented. However, of the Motions and Bills that are before assemblies, none touches on sports. I wonder how the ‘county MPs’ seek to bring development in their turfs if they do not value sports. Here are suggestions progressive ‘county legislators’ can consider for the love of the game.

Top on the list is passing a Bill that will empower the governor reclaim all grabbed public land, in particular, that set aside for recreational activities like sports. But I wonder if such a law will see the light of the day, since majority of culprits sit in those assemblies.

Second, counties should place a ban on wearing of English Premier League (EPL) merchandise, and more drastically, ration live screening of the games. You see, majority of youths in villages have become ‘zombies’ because of EPL. They spend hours watching and discussing the games without thinking of how they will put foot on the table. A county cannot develop if such shenanigans continue.

Third, a visionary ‘county MP’ should sponsor a Motion that will introduce ‘Games Time’ in counties, as it happens in schools. The rate at which diabetes, hypertension and other lifestyle diseases are crushing people is alarming and all this is because Jack is not playing. Now, the compulsory games time should be at 5pm or ever the weekend and a register of those attending should be taken.

Lastly, there are games in every counties associated with different communities. These include bull fighting, cock fighting, termite charming, ajua, boat riding, wresting and archery. The national government has done nothing to protect these games, majority of them are dying.

It is high time county assemblies make laws to preserve the games. The best way to achieve this is by having a clause that make it obligatory for staging of county festivals, which will involve the traditional games.