Abstract:
This article provides an international relations perspective of
the role of sport as a potential factor in Kenya's foreign relations in
post-colonial Kenya. It notes that while sports events and sports-
persons can serve important political functions, their actual diplo-
matic values depended on what the political 'arerta' saw fit in utiliz-
ing sport as a means of furthering "higher" diplomatic interests. In
other words, sport is only independent in as much as it has no sig-
nificant bearing on political affairs. When foreign policy and diplo-
macy is used as an instrument to coerce, sport become useful and is
co-opted by politics. In contemporary Kenya, sporting activities in
the Olympics and other major world sporting events have created an
image of a big power Nation. The country constantly produce world
class sportsmen and women and this is manifested in the rising
number of sportspersons breaking world records and the scramble
by a number of states to grant citizenship to Kenyan athletes and
recruitment into the coaching opportunities that are availed by the
sporting world. Sports have become a major diplomatic and foreign
policy tool in advancing inter-state relations and many a times used
to express state's stand on global issues. This article firstly outlines
the nature of sport and lists instances in which Kenya,s sporting
prowess has manifested itself since the 1960's; secondly, it relates
Kenya's sporting achievements to her foreign relations. Thirdly, it
evaluates the extent to which sport have created famous and wealthy
sportsmen and womerLin Kenya and globally. Finally, the article
draws conclusions from these sporting relations that might shed
some light on the nature of Kenya's sporting relations generally
