By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Minister of Sports, Ibrahim Nyelenkeh, has told journalists that the ministry is aiming to create 5000 jobs through sports by 2023. He made the pronouncement on Friday following the presentation of the ministry’s budget for the year 2020.
Nyelenkeh said his ministry is at advance stages of forming the National Sports Authority (NSA) through which all sporting disciplines will benefit.
“For all of you who attended the presentation, you saw how many jobs the Premier League created. We could have even created more had we gotten more support. So next year, to make sure we create jobs for all our sisters and brothers, if we get what we have asked for then we have the potential to create four to five thousand jobs by 2023,” Nyelenkeh said.
The ministry labelled its budget ‘Sports for Job Creation’ as a reflection of 2020 national budget theme, which is centered around job creation.
During the presentation, officials disclosed that the ministry would need Le44 billion for 2020. In 2019 the government approved Le9.8 billion as budget for the sector. A huge chunk of that was spent on football, which is the dominant sport in the country.
Government spent Le 3.5 billion to restart the Sierra Leone Premier League last season. The just concluded league created jobs for over 500 people. The league also generated some huge revenue for the teams that participated. According to the report of the Premier League Board, it generated just over Le3 billion in gate takings.
A lot of the plans for sports development in Sierra Leone is based on the proposed NSA. Nyelenkeh said if they get the funds, they will devolve sports functions across the country through this body.
“The NSA has a lot of opportunity to create a lot of jobs for youths. If we get the funds, the authority is just one, but we will make sure all the provincial areas get representations. And there are going to be many representatives because we have up to 36 sporting disciplines,” he said.
The NSA is designed to be a technical body that will be responsible for coordinating and regulating sporting activities in the country. Nyelenkeh said they are about to constitute the board for the authority.
Moses Mambu Jnr, a civil society activist with the Consortium for Service Delivery, who have been closely following the budget presentation forum, said it is important for government to provide the necessary funds for the ministry considering the importance of sports in solving other social problems.
“We know if the ministry of sports receives the required support, they can do well in terms of job creation. If you spend more money on sports, over time it will solve the problem of drug abuse.
“The other reason why we are supporting the ministry’s budget is because sports bring peace. We all go to the national stadium and no one cares for your political or ethnic connection. We all just stand there side by side,” Mambu said.
There is no guarantee that the ministry will receive even 50% of the Le44 billion they are asking for. In the last two years their approved budget has never reached Le10 billion.
© 2019 Politico Online
