ICG defamation of Kenyan runners still hurts

By PETER RONO

Bad news from Kenya made headlines around the world at the beginning of this year.

A disputed election in December resulted in outbreaks of violence in several spots around the country, notably in Rift Valley Province, which is where most of Kenya’s world-class runners come from.

The violence has long since ended and a political settlement has been reached that promises to resolve some of the underlying problems. Kenya’s runners have returned to international competition with their usual success, winning the London and Boston marathons and the men’s team title at the World Cross Country Championship.

But unfortunately, rumours persist, both in Kenya and in the West, that Kenya’s runners were somehow involved in the violence that swept through their homeland.

The most concrete statement of the rumours came in a report issued in February by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a respected global organisation based in Belgium.

That report attracted a lot of attention in the international media. A recent article by the Agence France Presse, citing the ICG report, repeated the rumours, saying, “There have also been allegations that stars past and present helped fund the New Year spree of inter-ethnic killings that ultimately claimed an estimated 1,500 lives.”

In general, the allegations were that some wealthy runners, who are mainly of the Kalenjin ethnic group, supported violent mobs intent on driving members of the Kikuyu community from land that the Kalenjin regard as historically their own. More precisely, this is what the ICG said on page 12 of its 30-page report: “Several informed sources suggest these groups [the violent mobs] now have wealthy athletes as new benefactors.
 
“THE RIFT VALLEY IS FAMous for producing world-class long-distance runners. The athletes have made fortunes from competing in international track and field events and have transformed some of the depressed and sleepy rural villages in the region by investing in farmland and other real estate.

The motivation for giving the raiders cash and transport is said to be partly economic. They allegedly want the Kikuyus evicted so they can take their farms and property.

“The athletes, most of whom have a military background, are reportedly also training and sometimes commanding the raiders.

There are various accounts of how Lucas Sang, an athlete and ex-army corporal, died, but most accounts suggest he met his death on the outskirts of Eldoret while commanding part of a Kalenjin raiding party.”
My friend John Manners has raised several questions about these allegations in an article in the May issue of Runner’s World magazine.
 
THE PASSAGE QUOTED ABOve contains three footnotes, all citing simply an interview carried out by the International Crisis Group in Eldoret in January.

It is not surprising that  the writer’s “informed sources” are not identified, but the writer also fails to examine the sources’ possible motives.

As John notes, if someone wanted to cast blame on an individual or a recognisable group rather than a faceless mob, then the Rift Valley runners make handy targets, regardless of their guilt or innocence.

The supposed economic motives and military backgrounds of the runners are equally questionable. Wealthy runners have been buying all the land they want at market prices since the sport became professional in the 1980s.

And while many athletes are indeed members of the armed services, once they complete basic training, their duties consist mainly of representing their units in various athletic competitions.

Most dubious of all is the defamation of my friend and former teammate Lucas Sang. I have known him since we represented Kenya together in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and I, like everyone in the Kenyan running community, knew him to be one of the most generous and public spirited of all former athletes.

I have made extensive inquiries about the circumstances of his death, and I have found not a shred of evidence to support the ICG allegations.

Far from being instigators of violence, Kenya’s athletes have been among its victims. Luke Kibet, last year’s World Championship marathon winner, was caught in the midst of a sudden outbreak of violence in Eldoret immediately after the disputed election results were announced. He suffered a severe head wound.

More ominously, several prominent runners have received death threats, apparently just because they are well known. Multiple world record setter and world steeplechase champion Moses Kiptanui was among those threatened.

At the height of the unrest, a group of international athletes met in Eldoret and issued a joint statement declaring their desire for peace and disclaiming any involvement whatsoever in the violence.

KENYA’S RUNNERS HAVE IN- deed been the country’s foremost ambassadors, and they are among its most effective philanthropists and peace makers.

The legendary Kipchoge Keino, winner of four Olympic medals and now Kenya’s IOC representative, founded an orphanage for homeless children of all ethnic backgrounds and runs an IOC-sponsored training centre for distance runners from all over Africa.

Tegla Loroupe, Kenya’s first great female marathoner, not only opened innumerable doors for Kenya’s women runners but also, through her Peace Foundation, fosters peace and reconciliation among warring communities of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

The foundation conducts Peace Races in trouble zones in these countries, urging participants to “trade weapons for running gear,” and at each event a pile of crude weapons is collected and destroyed.

PAUL TERGAT, THE  FIVE-time World Cross Country champion and former marathon world record holder, now travels the world as an ambassador for the UN’s World Food Programme.

Lornah Kiplagat, through her foundation, pays school fees for dozens of talented but poor young women.

I, too, have been helping promising student-athletes secure scholarships in American colleges.

In the past 15 years, some 275 young men and women have earned a chance at higher education through the programme that I run.

Kenya suffered a nearly catastrophic upheaval early this year. Fortunately, peace has been restored. But for reconstruction and reconciliation to proceed, the baseless rumours must cease.

Among other things, Kenya’s brilliant runners must be enabled and encouraged to resume their role as leaders and ambassadors in the hard work that lies ahead.

Peter Rono won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and is also UN Goodwill Ambassador at Large.