You can touch that, Mr President

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday said his government has prioritised the nurturing of youthful sporting talent in the country.

“The Ministry of Sports and Culture is implementing strategies aimed at boosting the development of talent and sport in the country.

These strategies will be improved through educational institutions from early primary school, all the way to tertiary institutions,” the President revealed.

Kenyatta was speaking during a function at the Coke Plaza in Nairobi, where he received and unveiled the Fifa World Cup trophy to the public.

The trophy is in the country for the next two days, as part of its world-wide tour in which it will visit 79 other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and America ahead of the 2014 World Cup tournament that will be held in Brazil next year.

Kenyatta also urged the country’s national football team to work hard and join the league of World Cup finalists and winning nations in the near future.

Kenyatta was the only person allowed to lay hands on the 18-carat gold trophy at the event.

This practice is expected to continue for the duration of the trophy’s stay in the country in tandem with the Fifa rules which stipulate that only heads of state and former winners of the World Cup are allowed to touch the coveted trophy.

The President however steered clear of discussing the issue of infrastructure development, and especially regarding the Jubilee Government’s pre-election pledge of building five modern stadiums in different counties and rehabilitating the already existing but dilapidated sports venues.

Speaking at the same function Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Arts and Culture Hassan Wario concurred with the President that the Harambee Stars had all it takes to qualify for the World Cup.

“Kenya will stand a chance to win this trophy if we all put our act together,” Wario stated.

The national football team, Harambee Stars, is the most popular team in the country but amongst the least successful of the lot.

The Stars are currently ranked in the bottom half of the monthly Fifa world rankings despite boasting of some big-game players who ply their trade in some of the established league competitions in Europe.

Also present at the function was Coca-cola Business Unit President Kelvin Balogoun, Football Kenya Federation Chairman Sam Nyamweya and FIFA’s representative in the trophy tour Pekka Odriozola who presented Kenyatta with a gift of a replica World Cup trophy at the function.

The World Cup trophy which is in the country courtesy of Coca-Cola will be displayed at public places on Wednesday and Thursday, where thousands of fans are expected to line up and take photos alongside the prized asset.