Kendo finally gets Sports Council funding
Kendo Association of Malawi (KAM) has finally obtained annual allocation from Sports Council 14 years after being affiliated to the country’s sports mother body.
The council’s executive secretary George Jana said yesterday they have finally provided the discipline with K400 000 (US$1 212) funding after noting that KAM is now taking an initiative to develop the sport in the country.
“It is not automatic that a sports association starts receiving funding upon registering with us. Associations must always have own means to sustain themselves. We only come in to assist if we see progress in a particular discipline and that is what we have done to Kendo,” Jana said.
While expressing delight at the council’s gesture, KAM president Austin Somba admitted that since registering the sport in 1999, their body has been relatively active, especially at national level. He said it was the unwavering support from the Japanese government and well-wishers that kept them going.
“It has not been an easy road for us; for over the last decade, we have been running without a budget as we survived on the material support from the Japanese government and the meagre funds some of our executive members have been contributing.
“We appreciate the council’s decision to incorporate us on the list of annual funding beneficiaries. We promise to be accountable and to work hard on developing the sport,” Somba said.
Last weekend, Japanese Ambassador Fujio Samukawa added an icing on the KAM’s cake at the Blantyre Youth Centre (BYC) by decorating them with the prestigious Foreign Ministers Commendation Award from the Japanese government.
After presenting the award, Samukawa promised more support to the martial arts sport through the Japanese International Corporation Agency (Jica).
Kendo, which is a fencing-like sport, means ‘the way of the sword’ .It was founded by the Japanese Samurai warriors over 1 000 years ago, but it was established in Malawi in 1992 by a Japanese volunteer Satoshi Nakagawa.
