The government has clarified that the Sh600 million reward promised to Harambee Stars for winning the African Nations Championship (CHAN) will partly come from the Sports Ministry’s annual reward scheme and the rest directly from President William Ruto.

Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi on Tuesday explained that the ministry will use its Sh70 million annual budget, dedicated to rewarding athletes, while the remaining Sh530 million will be a personal top-up by the President to motivate the national team.

“Paying Harambee Stars isn’t new. We pay those who break records. We have a Sh70 million budget to pay winners,” said Mwangi during a radio interview.

The current government reward structure awards Sh3 million, Sh2.75 million, and Sh2.5 million to gold, silver and bronze winners, respectively.

Athletes who break world records receive Sh5 million. This model, in place for over a decade, has mainly benefited individual competitors and is being extended to footballers for the first time.

The incentive makes Kenya the highest-paying host of CHAN 2024, far ahead of Uganda’s Sh301 million and Tanzania’s Sh51 million promises to their respective teams.

With Kenya having won their opening match 1-0 against DR Congo on Sunday, the squad already earned Sh1 million on Monday.

They are one match away from securing another million, with each win earning Sh1 million and each draw Sh500,000.

If the Stars win all their matches, they stand to pocket Sh280 million in bonuses alone.

Coach Benni McCarthy hailed the President’s motivation, calling it life-changing for many of the players.

“When you win football matches you get greatly rewarded so it was a great initiative from President Ruto to come in and motivate the boys and give them such huge incentive because when you look at it, it can be life-changing for many of these players because they are local based and do not have the biggest of salaries that you see there,” he said.

He added that the extra motivation has boosted team morale.

“So, when you come into the CHAN tournament to motivate you and to get you even an extra energy boost and when you have a bonus like that to think about, is great, but for me it is all about football. It is a game that if you have talent and work hard, if you do the business on the field, off the field will take care of itself, ” he remarked.

The CHAN tournament features players who play domestically, many of whom earn modest salaries in the FKF Premier League. While the average monthly pay stands at Sh80,000, some top players earn Sh200,000, with the league’s highest-paid player, from Kenya Police FC, taking home Sh220,000.

The government’s generous offer has drawn public attention as other sectors struggle. Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi recently announced the state could no longer finance free primary and secondary education.

At the same time, the Social Health Insurance Fund is under pressure due to inadequate funding.

Concerns are also growing over delayed payments to the Harambee Starlets, the national women’s team, who are still owed allowances from their friendly against Cote d’Ivoire in April, despite repeated promises of payment.

Additionally, a Sh50 million bonus promised to the same Harambee Stars team for qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations has not yet been paid.