Once again there’s news that Kenya should bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. This time it comes from Kenya’s Minister for Roads, Public Works and Housing Raila Odinga joining Kenya’s Sports Minister Ochilo Ayacko who first announced a possible Kenya 2016 bid last January.
Odinga said Saturday, while watching the Tusker Athletics International held in Kenya, that a country needed to be ambitious and Kenya had a right to bid for the Games as it produced some of the best athletes in the world, according to the local newspaper the Sunday Nation.
When the announcement was first made last January International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge endorsed Kenya’s bid, saying it has good weather and good facilities…”
He added, “if they place a bid for the Games, yes the IOC will support them”.
According to China View sports commentators and officials have cautiously welcomed the announcement. Many of them note the East African nation has no modern facilities to stage the Games while others argue that 2016 is still far and Kenya has a chance to improve its infrastructure.
Rogge said Kenya would have to make big infrastructure improvements for its bid to be taken seriously and a successful bid would require the commitment of vast tracts of land the Kenyan government does not currently have available.
