K24 sports anchor Tony Kwalanda surprised a section of Kenyans after taking a knee on live TV as he presented the sports news following the 1 p.m. bulletin on Tuesday, June 2.
Kwalanda took the knee as he began presenting his show, Sports Hub, a live sports news broadcast that follows the main bulletin on weekdays.
With the move attracting attention from a section of viewers, Kwalanda told Kenyans.co.ke that he did it in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement following the death of George Floyd in the United States.
Kwalanda observed that the world of sports had shed light on the issue through some of its biggest names like Jadon Sancho and Kylian Mbappe, and he was only adding to the voices calling for an end to the discrimination and police killings.
"I decided to take a knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We are in solidarity with the protesters after the death of George Floyd in police custody in the United States.
"We have already seen a lot of figures in sports making statements on this issue including Jadon Sancho, Kylian Mbappe, Achraf Hakimi and Marcus Thuram," he stated.
Questioned on how it ties into Kenyans' own woes at the hands of the police, Kwalanda sounded a warning to the police service.
He argued that if measures were not taken to put an end to police brutality and extra-judicial killings, protests on the scale of those witnessed in the United States would be inevitable.
He alluded to the recent campaigns seeking justice for victims of police killings and brutality during curfew hours in the Covid-19 period.
"Yes, it is also important to localize this campaign. The police should read the writing on the wall. I feel the police should take note of what is going on and change before Kenya goes the USA way," he stated.
The return of football in Germany's Bundesliga has seen sportsmen demand justice for George Floyd even as protests continue to rock several states in America.
Jadon Sancho, touted as the biggest prospect in world football, celebrated a hat-trick for Borussia Dortmund on Sunday, June 31, with a message on his undershirt that read 'Justice for George Floyd'.
Borrusia Mönchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram, on the other hand, took a knee after scoring in a win against Union Berlin.
