Korir and team have their work cut out

Even though this year’s General Election had several sports personalities vying for various elective seats, the biggest story is the victory of current Boston Marathon champion Wesley Korir who won the Cherengani Parliament seat in Trans Nzoia County.

While Korir’s victory has been hailed by fellow athletes, it is important to note that the quest by sports people to get into national leadership started over 20 years ago. The intension by the pioneers of this move, mainly athletes, was to get into the leadership of the then Kenya Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA), now Athletics Kenya (AK), to push for better management.

A group of runners led by two-time Boston marathon winner Moses Tanui, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Games 800 metres silver medallist Nixon Kiprotich and the late Lucas Sang, a member of the Kenyan 4x400 metres team to the 1988 Seoul, Korea Olympic Games would find themselves at loggerheads with KAAA officials when they tried to organize an event in Eldoret in 1991.

Stalemate

What was to be the first edition of the annual Discovery Kenya Cross Country was not to be held. A contingent of police officers had barricaded the Eldoret Sports Club, the venue of the event the morning the organisers went to mark the route of the event then sponsored by Italian sports goods makers Fila.

However, the event later took place after a truce between KAAA and the man behind the event, Dr Gabriela Rosa, an Italian athletics manager.

Since then the event has been held each year. The 22nd edition took place last month.

However, this led to bad blood between the athletes and KAAA. The runners later attempted to take over the federation by sponsoring several candidates during the body’s election that followed at Nyayo National Stadium that year. There were reports that goons locked athletes that had come to oppose KAAA top brass during the polls in the toilets.

Hope for change

And after they failed to penetrate KAAA, they took the Parliamentary path. They believed they could force changes in athletics as Members of Parliament. First to vie was the first African to win Boston Marathon, Ibrahim Hussein, who failed to capture the Mosop seat. He later became national assistant secretary of AK.

Breakthrough came during the 2007 General Election when another Boston winner Elijah Lagat won the Emgwen Constituency Parliamentary seat. Although had retired at the time, he became the first athlete to be an MP.

And on March 4, 2013 General Election, the 2012 Boston Marathon winner Korir dethroned Jubilee Alliance Deputy President-elect William Ruto’s close ally Joshua Kutuny become the first active athlete to win a parliamentary seat in Kenya. He’ll defend his title next month.

Korir who is a two-time Los Angeles marathon winner was just among the many athletes who vied for various seats during. Christopher Cheboiboch, runners-up in Boston and a member of the Kenya team to the 10th World Half marathon championships in 2001 in Bristol where he finished eighth, won the Emsoo County Assembly Ward seat in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

“It’s a rare win and we hail him,” said former Boston Champion Moses Tanui.

However, the sportsmen have their work cut out. For instance, the in-coming government promised five new stadia and it will upon them to ensure the promise in delivered.