Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot has asked Chief Justice Martha Koome to intervene and save athletics in the country amid mismanagement accusations against Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba.
In a statement, Cheruiyot argued that the nation should not be blindfolded by the performance of a few athletes.
Cheruiyot, who is also the leader of the Majority in the Senate, accused the Athletics Kenya of contributing to the fall of athletics activities.
“Be fooled not by the individual brilliance of stars like Faith and Moraa, our Athletics is failing.
Athletics Kenya has not had elections for many years thanks to a sponsored court that never moves. For the good of our nation’s pride, I implore CJ Martha Koome to kindly intervene,” said Cheruiyot.
The lawmaker’s remarks came at a time when the Sports CS Ababu Namwamba is facing accusations of mismanaging the sector.
Several leaders have mounted Pressure on the CS to explain the worrying state of sports.
Ababu appeared before Members of Parliament and addressed a range of issues and denied mismanaging the crucial sector.
Further, the statement by the Senator came after the conclusion of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
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Budapest Performance
Kenya emerged in the medal standings at Budapest behind USA, Canada, Spain, and Jamaica.
This is a slight drop from the 2022 World Championships where Kenya finished fourth.
Further, Kenya received ten medals including three gold and silver medals, and four bronze medals.
World 1,500m and 5000m Record holder Faith Kipyegon won gold for the two races at Budapest while Mary Moraa won gold in the 800m race.
Kenya had a similar number of medals in the 2022 World Championships with two gold medals, five silver and three bronze medals.
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Ababu Namwamba Before Parliament
Appearing before the National Assembly, CS Namwamba gave clarification on some of the issues relating to athletics.
The former Budalang’i Member of Parliament explained that the ministry has changed the procedure of sending money to athletes to avoid corruption.
“I want to inform this house that because of previous cases of misappropriation of money meant for athletes, we have changed the procedure and now we send money for athletes directly to them.
It takes a bit of time to get the details, but we always make sure that they receive it,” he explained.
Further, a section of leader had accused the CS of giving the athletics team inappropriate kits during games.
On this, Ababu Namwamba said the issue was important because it touched on copyright and intellectual property which are tightly guarded.
“I want to confirm that the team in Tunisia and the one in Budapest, I flagged them off myself and they were in their official Nike kits.
I am willing to get confirmation from Athletics Kenya, National Olympic Committee, I can commit to this house to bring here a confirmation from them on the agreement they have with Nike,” said Ababu Namwamba.
