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Basketball teams in the country had maintained their defiance towards the Kenya Basketball Federation, and even threatened to skip participation in KBF organized Leagues until the federation officials meet them and air-out issues on management, decline in standards and development of basketball. Despite the federation's numerous calls and announcements on the league tip-off, it remained unclear if teams will take part in the 2009 league. However, after pressure from team managers and the larger basketball fraternity, teh federation finally gave in to the demand sby the team managers, in particular, with regards to the Basketball Constutition, which has to be amended to allow team managers-as representative s of players and teams, to vote during elections.

The crisis came just after President Kibaki had reiterated that proper management of sports can create lucrative careers for many youth in the country. The squabbles threatened to totally ruin basketball in the country, and the only way now is to focus seriously on development of basketball as a competitive sport and target professionalism both in the management of basketball and in running of the leagues in the country. With such focus, there shouldn’t be any reason for not having teams based in towns like Eldoret, Nyeri, Kericho, Kitale etc… to add to teams from Kisumu, Nakuru and Mombasa who have been challenging the capital city based teams over the years.

President Mwai Kibaki congratulates Andrew Butterfield Boyd, winner of the Tusker Kenya Open, 2009 at Muthaiga Golf club, Nairobi. President Mwai Kibaki reiterated that proper management of the sports industry can create lucrative careers for many unemployed youth in the country. Speaking at the Muthaiga Golf Club during the conclusion of the Tusker Golf Open Championship – April, 2009, President Kibaki said that Government attached a lot of importance to the development of sports due its enormous potential in creating numerous jobs for the youth and Kenyans in general.

The President further called on vigorous campaigns to be undertaken to enlighten the youth on the benefits of sports in their lives both as a recreational activity and as a profession and Kibaki stressed the need to enlighten our youth to embrace sports not just as a recreational activity but as a profession through which they can secure a decent livelihood.

The Head of State reaffirmed the commitment of the government in promoting sports as evidenced through increased allocation of resources and rehabilitation and building of modern sports facilities in the country, noting that the government had also established an award scheme to reward and motivate sports persons as well as formulating a regulatory framework conducive to the development of vibrant sports industry. President Kibaki, however, called upon corporate bodies and friendly nations to assist the government in its commitment to developing the sports industry due to the enormous resources required to fully tap and develop potential talents in the country.

On her part Sports Minister Prof Hellen Sambili said that the annual golf tournament helped Kenyan players and the country at large to measure against world champions thus uplifting the standards of the game to international levels. She expressed optimism that Kenya had achieved the status of a great sporting nation and an international sports destination in Africa as evidenced by the many international events she is hosting.