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Minister asked to intervene over fate of runners

Door Moses Mwathi

The government has been asked to intervene in the controversy over three young elite athletes, who have reportedly decamped from a club in Nyahururu to an Eldoret-based club. The three runners, all schoolgirls, have joined an Eldoret club headed by a former long distance runner. They were previously based at the Mfae Club in Nyahururu.

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Athletics Kenyas Nyandarua branch officials have asked the minister for Sports, Maina Kamanda, to intervene in the matter.
The officials yesterday held a crisis meeting and later addressed the Press in a Nyahururu hotel. The meeting, chaired by the AK branch chairman, Eliud Mathu, expressed dissatisfaction in the manner in which young athletes were lured from Mfae Club and taken to Kaptagat in Eldoret. Public relations officer, Nicholas Ndirangu Mwangi, said the branch took issue with the national offices failure to respond to complaints lodged by the club management a week ago. “We are very disappointed with the national officials for treating this issue lightly. The minister should step in and compel the national office to react to the clubs complaints,” said Mwangi. Mfae wants the contract reached between the three athletes and the Eldoret club revoked for the sake of their education and training, which they are receiving at the camp. Kamau had said that the girls were meant to be in school for holiday tuition. Two of the athletes will sit national examinations at the end of the year.
Two of them are students at Kagondo Secondary School while one is a Standard Eight pupil at Kagondo Primary School. “The girls should be allowed to go back to their training camp so that they can resume learning. We are wondering where they will sit their examinations,” said Mwangi.

© Kenyan News