President William Ruto has revealed plans to hire 500 sportsmen into the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Police Service (NPS).
Speaking on Thursday, October 2, Ruto said the move is aimed at providing job security for athletes and access to resources and facilities to sharpen their skills.
"I have discussed with our disciplined services, both the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Police Service (NPS), and we have agreed that a total of 500 sportsmen will be hired into our disciplined services, to provide them a base where they can get the necessary equipment and support to continue raising the standard of sport in our country," he said.
Elsewhere, Ruto announced that the government has disbursed Ksh27 million to Tokyo World Athletics Championships 2025 medalists.
He said each gold medalist will receive Ksh3 million, while silver and bronze medalists will get Ksh2 million and Ksh1 million, respectively.
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"In recognition of your heroic efforts, a total of Ksh27 million has already been disbursed to the medalists. Ksh3 million for each gold medalist, Ksh2 million for each silver medalist, and 1 million for bronze medalists in line with my directive," he stated.
Ruto also announced that the government will cover half the cost of an affordable housing unit for the gold medalists.
"I want to confirm that just like we did for the Harambee Stars team in CHAN, the seven gold medalists will also benefit the way the others did. The government of Kenya is going to pay half of the cost of the house of your choice, and you pay the other half. If you don’t have money to pay the other half, we are going to extend a soft loan," he added.
The Kenyan team finished second out of 194 countries in the recently concluded Tokyo World Athletics Championship in Japan.
Kenya, represented by 59 athletes, secured a total of 11 medals at the championships, including 7 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze.
Among the standout performers was Chebet, who dominated the track in Tokyo, clinching gold in both the 10,000m and 5,000m races.
Other gold winners were Peres Jepchirchir, Faith Kipyegon, Faith Cherotich, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, and Lilian Odira.
Notably, this comes months after Ruto announced that 20 percent of housing units under the Affordable Housing Programme will be set aside for members of the disciplined forces.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 3, Ruto said members of the Kenya Defence Forces, the National Police Service, the National Youth Service and the Kenya Prisons Service will benefit from the allocation.
"We will reserve 20 per cent of our housing units under the Affordable Housing Programme for members of the Kenya Defence Forces, the National Police Service, the National Youth Service and the Kenya Prisons Service,” he declared.
In addition, Ruto announced favorable financing options tailored specifically for the officers to ease their path to home ownership.
"These disciplined officers will benefit from single-digit interest rate credit facilities — as low as 3 per cent a year — to grow the number of home-owners,” he added.
