The Department was established through a Presidential circular directive in 1987.

Mandate:

Its mandate drawn from the sessional paper No. 3 of 2005 is to provide technical advice on all matters relating to sports and recreation in the country.

Functions:

i.    Policy formulation, planning, implementation and review
ii.    Sports budget preparation and implementation
iii.    Preparation and rationalization of sports calendars and events
iv.    Coordination and recommendation on financial requests from the sports organizations based on each activity.
v.    Coordination of sports talent exposure in international competition, conventions congresses
vi.    Recommend to the Government on hosting of regional and international competitions and conferences
vii.    Coordination of the Cash Awards and Honours scheme
viii.    Liaise with the Sports Registrar on the status of registered/licensed sports federations, organizations, clubs and sports personnel
ix.    Serve as observers during sports organization’s elections
x.    Development and implementation of bilateral/multilateral/technical sports agreements
xi.    Implementation of International sports conventions
xii.    Establishment of Inter-governmental sports partnerships
xiii.    Carrying out of sports research on the impact of sports on the economy
xiv.    Coordination of establishment of cottage industries for manufacture of sports goods and equipment
xv.    Participation, monitoring and evaluation of local/international sports programmes and projects