The Treasury has moved to limit the use of the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund.
The Treasury restricted the fund to sports and art, meaning it will no longer be used for social development such as universal healthcare.
The Exchequer has published a draft of amended Public Finance Management (Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018, which seeks to drop social development from the principal regulations.
“The purpose of this statutory instrument is to amend the Public Finance Management (Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund) Regulations, 2024 whose objects and purpose shall be to provide funds to support the development and promotion of sports and arts,” the Treasury notes.
“The statutory instrument will be renamed Public Finance Management (Sports and Arts Fund) after approval of the amendments.”
The fund was established through a 2018 legal notice and is funded from a combination of sources, including proceeds from betting and lotteries, income tax, excise duty, grants and donations.
Currently, the fund can apply up to 60 percent of proceeds to social development, including universal healthcare.
Funding for the promotion and development of sports and arts is meanwhile limited to no more than 35 and 20 percent, respectively.
The balance of five percent is deployed to government strategic interventions with the approval of Cabinet.
The initial capital for the fund was set at Sh20 million appropriated by Parliament in the 2018/2019 financial year.
The fund is now expected to exclusively support the development and promotion of sports and arts including financing the development of sports and recreation arts facilities including stadia, gymnasiums, buildings, theatres, studios and tracks.
The fund is also deployed in enhancing support and access to funding for sportspersons and sports organisations, enabling their participation in sporting events and competition.
The board oversighting the fund is set to be renamed as the Sports and Arts Fund Board.
The amendments follow a multi-agency taskforce composed of officers from the State Department for Sports, the State Department for Culture, the Arts and Heritage and the National Treasury.
The board of the fund consists of the Principal Secretaries from Treasury, Sports and Arts who provide the overall oversight of the fund.
The secretariat of the fund consists of a Chief Executive Officer and other staff who discharge the functions of the fund.
