The enactment of the Sports Act following the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution came with strict regulations for the registration of Sports Clubs by the Registrar of Sports.
These regulations have been stipulated in the Sports Registrar’s regulations, published in 2016.
The regulations guide how sports clubs, regardless of which sport they are engaged in, are governed.
First, a club needs to present its short medium and long term strategic plans, which guarantee the sustainability of the club.
The club also needs to present an updated register of its officials and all the athletes in its rota. In the case where the club is a newly formed outfit, then it should present a register of interim officials.
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Further, the club should have a logo and emblem, which uniquely identify it. Plagiarizing logos and emblems could lead to denial of registration.
The club should also present audited accounts with reports on all its activities and the use and disbursement of all its funds for its preceding financial year.
To ensure strict compliance to Chapter Six of the constitution, the Chairpersons, Secretary and Treasurer of the club also need to obtain Certified copies of clearance certificates from relevant state agencies.
These include the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), a licensed Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
As if not enough, the club also has to obtain certificates of compliance including a VAT certificate, KRA PIN, NSSF and NHIF certificates.
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These stringent requirements have come under criticism due to the cost of ticking all the requirements check boxes.
Logistics around getting all these done have also been under scrutiny since the Registrar only has one physical office located in Nairobi.
Many clubs have thus opted to take part in leagues and tournaments without formal registration under the sports Act.
Without this formality, they risk being side-lined from such benefits as funding from the Sports Fund.
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