Reject violence in sports

The death of Rebecca Cheptegei, the Ugandan athlete, who competed in marathon at the just-ended Paris Olympic Games, is a stark reminder of the continued gender-based violence in sports and the cultural beliefs that perpetrate it.

Cheptegei, 33, succumbed to injuries allegedly inflicted on her by her former boyfriend Dickson Ndiema, who is said to have doused her in petrol before setting her ablaze in Endembes, Trans Nzoia County on Sunday.

There has been an uproar across the world following the incident, and Ndiema, who is also recovering in hospital from burns sustained during the attack, faces murder charges.

A similar case was witnessed when the 2015 World Athletics Cross Country champion Agnes Tirop, was allegedly murdered at her home in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet on October 13, 2021 by her estranged husband Ibrahim Rotich.

Rotich, who denied the charges, has since been released on bail as the case continues in Eldoret.

Then Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed constituted a Ministerial Committee on Gender Welfare in Sports to examine gender inclusivity in sport.

The committee, chaired by legendary long distance runner, Catherine Ndereba, presented the report to Amina before it was officially released during the Agnes Tirop Conference addressed by then President Uhuru Kenyatta on January 17 to 22, 2022 in Diani, Kwale.

The report painted a grim picture on the happenings in sports where there were widespread cases of gender based discrimination and violence.

Just before the Diani’s reawakening conference, Athletics Kenya (AK), too, constituted a committee that held several sessions across the country for a fact-finding mission in December 2022.

However, three years later, neither has the Catherine Ndereba Report been implemented nor has AK released theirs.

We call on Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to help enforce recommendations made by Ndereba’s committees.