Retired athlete launches foundation to combat cattle rustling

Irene Limika, a former athlete, plays archery at Saikeri Primary School in Kajiado County

Irene Limika, a former athlete, plays archery at Saikeri Primary School in Kajiado County during the launch of Irene Limika Archery foundation on January 16, 2021.


Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Irene told Nation Sport that the foundation whose motto is "shoot to score not to kill" is keen on ending cattle-rustling vice in pastoralists communities in the country through archery
  • Limika hails from West Pokot County, a region notoriously known for cattle-rustling alongside Samburu and Turkana
  • Adhiambo said that supporting unconventional sports is part of NOC-K's plans this year to get more youth to actively compete in different disciplines in Olympics other than athletics

Former athlete-turned-archery coach Irene Limika launched Irene Limika Archery Foundation at Saikeri Primary School in Kajiado on Saturday.
 
Irene told Nation Sport that the foundation whose motto is "shoot to score not to kill" is keen on ending cattle-rustling vice in pastoralists communities in the country through archery.

"When I was a professional athlete I used to think of what I would do to stop this issue of cattle rustling because everywhere we go people refer to us as bandits.

"Actually there was a time Lonyangata and Pauline won the Paris Marathon and they said that 'The bandits raided Paris marathon'. That really disturbed me and I immediately figured that it should be my mission to end cattle-rustling in Kenya hopefully through archery," she said.

Limika, who started her athletics career in the early 2000s and has no record under her name, hails from West Pokot County, a region notoriously known for cattle-rustling alongside Samburu and Turkana.

She said children from Saikeri Primary School will be the first beneficiaries of the foundation as they seek to change the mindsets of youth to embrace sports as a way of creating better lives for themselves.

"If they excel in sports then they will be able to afford their own herds of cattle and they won't have to steal and harm their neighbours through cattle-rustling. We also want to build Kenya’s name in other sports disciplines since the Olympics is slowly embracing other unpopular sporting activities," she added.

The 42-year-old Limika was joined by World 5,000m champion Helen Obiri and National Olympic Committee of Kenya Program Officer Susan Adhiambo.

Adhiambo said that supporting unconventional sports is part of NOC-K's plans this year to get more youth to actively compete in different disciplines in Olympics other than athletics.

"We know that the perception around pastoralists community is that they are cattle rustlers who use bows and arrows. Archery is actually an Olympic sport so if we can get them out of the bush to come and use those skills in a sport we are doing two things; firstly we are creating peace and secondly we are identifying talent," she said.

Kenya is optimistic of qualifying an archery athlete for Tokyo Olympics after Shehzana Anwar participated in Rio 2016 where she was defeated in the first round by defending champion Ki Bo Bae of South Korea.