By Debra Rono
President William Ruto has addressed the concern regarding the poaching of Kenyan athletes by other nations, pledging to address this issue by establishing a robust partnership between the government and relevant stakeholders, including sports federations.
Speaking during a breakfast meeting held at the Eldoret State Lodge with the Kenyan Olympic athletes, where he presented prize money to the medalists, the head of state emphasized that the collaboration is to formulate policies designed to retain Kenyan athletes and prevent their migration to foreign nations.
“Our athletics is increasingly under encroachment from nations that have studied our skills to our detriment,” president Ruto emphasized.
“As a government, that of national and the county government we must scale up our collaboration with all stakeholders such as the sports federation to develop a sports policy framework that will address these gaps to progress our sports ecosystem to a place where we want it to be,” he further stated.
Kenyan-born Winfred Yavi, the Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion who won gold and set a new Olympic record for Bahrain at the 2024 Olympics, switched her nationality from Kenyan to Bahraini.
Yavi attributed her switch to the intense competition during the qualification process that had her failing to secure a spot on the Kenyan team.
“I chose Bahrain because I didn’t get a chance to represent Kenya. The competition was fierce, and the number of athletes was overwhelming,” Yavi explained.
This situation has sparked discontent among Kenyans, who believe that the government has not adequately supported its athletes, leading them to seek better opportunities abroad.
Yavi is not the first Kenyan athlete to represent another country; several others have made similar decisions over time.
Notable examples include Stephen Cherono, who moved to the USA; Norah Jeruto, who relocated to Kazakhstan; Lorna Chemtai, who switched to Israel; Stephen Cherono, who also moved to Qatar; Hillary Bor, who went to the USA; Anne Wafula, a Paralympian for the UK; Daisy Jepkemei, who transferred to Kazakhstan; Abraham Rotich, who moved to Bahrain; and Leonard Korir, who relocated to the USA, among others.
The Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Kipchumba Murkomen, emphasized that Kenya primarily relies on athletics for its Olympic medal tally.
He expressed that the Kenyan Olympic team could significantly increase its medal count by participating in a wider range of events beyond athletics.
Murkomen attributed the absence of diverse events in the Olympics to inadequate organization by the sports federations.
“Other counties are reaping more gold, the problem is in the federations, they are not organized, we are going to call them and organize and supporting them so in the next four years we have more disciplines participating in the Olympics,” he stated.
Additionally, Murkomen urged investors to focus on branding athletics, highlighting the global demand for Kenyan athletic merchandise and encouraging financial investment to promote Kenya’s image in this sector.