Owalo's Foundation Empowers Youth Through Sports

It was a morning filled with cheers, claps, and laughter as Gor Mahia supporter, Eliud Owalo, unveiled his foundation during an extravagant ...

It was a morning filled with cheers, claps, and laughter as Gor Mahia supporter, Eliud Owalo, unveiled his foundation during an extravagant event in Nairobi on Saturday. Founded in 2023 and guided by the motto “Elevate Lives, Empower Futures,” the Eliud Owalo Foundation aims to build vibrant and empowered communities through five key areas enhanced by ICT: climate change and environment, community health and wellness, education and digital inclusion, women's economic empowerment, and youth development. "Every Kenyan deserves to live a healthy, productive, and dignified life. Development is not a privilege, it is a right. However, there are gaps in service delivery that make this challenging, and that is what I hope to address with my foundation," said Owalo, who serves as Deputy Chief of Staff for Delivery and Government Efficiency in the Executive Office of the President. He called the day "a defining moment" and described his foundation as "a vehicle for empowerment and transformation." "We will strive to transform Kenyan communities through meaningful and strategic partnerships," Owalo stated. Owalo also pointed out that Kenya is facing a youth bulge, where the potential of young people is limited by outdated cultural norms, unequal access to education, and high unemployment rates. Read: Nwankwo Kanu: My best trophy is saving children with heart conditions "We are dealing with a demographic reality that is a ticking time bomb. We have to turn this challenge into an opportunity. The youth in Kenya are not just the future, they are the present," Owalo said. "But a nation that stifles its youth silences its own future. When youth lack opportunities, frustrations grow, leading to crime, substance abuse, and social unrest. But when youth are empowered, the opposite happens," he added. To tackle these issues, Owalo outlined several game changers that can transform Kenya's concerning youth bulge into a national boom. One of them is sports. "By using sports as a tool for empowerment, the foundation is cultivating healthy, disciplined, and employable young leaders. Sports also acts as a unifying and transformative platform for talent development, mental and physical wellness, peace-building, and social cohesion while creating jobs through event management and sports enterprises," Owalo said. During the ceremony, Owalo shared the impact his foundation has already made through support of various sporting events and institutions. "The foundation’s football and basketball tournaments have already generated scholarships and opened doors for professional play," he stated. Read: EPL trophy delivers knockout surprise to lucky Kenyan fans Speakers emphasized the role of sports in transforming Kenyan youth as members of the foundation's board of trustees were announced. Four of the 17 trustees are athletes. They include former AFC Leopards and Harambee Stars forward Joseph “JJ” Masiga, former Gor Mahia and Harambee Stars player Nahashon Oluoch Lule, former rugby star Humphrey Kayange, and Kenyan basketball legend Ronnie Owino. The other 13 trustees are: Angela Wamola, Chris Mensah, Esther Koimet, Jude Loveday, Prof Hazel Miseda, Dr Joseph Magutt, Justice Joyce Aluoch, Mary Okello, Amb. Michael Okoth Oyugi, Amb. Peter Nicholas Rateng’ Oginga Ogego, Philip Thigo, Phyllis Wakiaga, and Amb. Raychelle Omamo. Additionally, former footballers Tobias Ocholla and Mickey Weche were appointed as football advisors in the foundation's advisory panel. The event was attended by European Union Ambassador to Kenya Henriette Geiger, who served as the chief guest, and Nation Media Group Managing Director and CEO Geoffrey Odundo. Other attendees included Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka, Vihiga Governor Wilber Otichilo, and a range of Owalo’s former cabinet colleagues, politicians, government officials, and businesspeople. In her speech, Geiger stated that the foundation "aligns with the European Union's vision of transforming Kenya's youth bulge from a challenge to an opportunity." Waiguru reflected on the event as a moment "of learning what we can do beyond public service." Lusaka praised the occasion as "more than the launch of a foundation but a launch of hope." "The government cannot do everything," he said. Otichilo was brief, calling the event "special." He said the foundation would "transform Kenya."

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