Sport will not perish - Ilukena

JESSE JACKSON KAURAISA The Ministry of Sport will do everything in its power to ensure that sport stays alive in the country, permanent secretary Alfred Ilukena says.Sport codes are facing difficult times ahead, with many activities being placed on hold due to a financial crisis being experienced in the country.The country’s top football league failed to start last year after officials could not secure a sponsor.Many junior national teams were forced to cancel their trips or to trim teams because of the ongoing financial crisis.This raised concern in sport circles about whether the Ministry of Sport has been doing enough to rescue the situation.Critics have often called for a reshuffle in the ministry, calling for the resignation of Minister Jerry Ekandjo.However, permanent secretary Ilukena remains positive that the ministry will rescue the situation.Speaking in an exclusive interview yesterday Ilukena said: “We are all aware of the situation.“Believe me, we are working hard towards finding solutions to the dark cloud that has fallen over Namibian sport.“As a ministry, we remain committed and will do anything possible to ensure that sport continues.“We have always made it clear that the ministry will focus on the most important sport codes, while putting others on hold as far as funding is concerned.“However, we will have to do this rotationally by making some sport codes a priority for two years and focusing on others in the other two years.”Ilukena added that their main concern would remain development programmes for the youth.According to the permanent secretary, professional sport will receive minimum help from the ministry.“Associations like the Namibia Football Association (NFA) will have to source funds on their own because our budgets have always been limited.“We are just there to assist with the little that we can, but we are unable to go to the extremes as far as funding such associations is concerned.“We therefore also reiterate that the Namibia Premier League is not our responsibility.“They must try harder in the pursuing of sponsorships from the private sector to keep their activities alive,” Ilukena said.Budget anticipationWith the finance minister expected to announce the national budget for 2017/2018 financial year in May, the sport ministry hopes that there will be good news.The sport ministry has often been in the back of the line when it comes to budget allocations. Public sectors such as health and education are regarded as priorities.“I will not be able to disclose to you how much we have requested from the Ministry of Finance for 2017/18. “However, I can tell you that the Ministry of Sport has requested more funds than what we got last year.“The problem is that the government will continue to argue that sport is not more important than the other sectors, and would therefore not get more funds.“We have done our part as a ministry in terms of requesting the funds and we hope for the best.“The economic situation makes things even more difficult for the government to release large sums.“This is all because it is not only an internal economic problem, but it is affecting the whole world,” Ilukena said.

Sport will not perish - Ilukena

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-19

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Sport will not perish - Ilukena

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-19

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