The government has donated Ksh5 million to the family of Gervais Hakizimana, the deceased coach to World Record marathon holder Kelvin Kiptum.
While representing President William Ruto's administration at Hakizimana's funeral service in Rwanda, Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba revealed that the donation was aimed at supporting the deceased's family.
Further, the CS indicated that the government would continue supporting the family as a gesture of appreciation for the huge influence and sacrifices he made to propel Kiptum into global stardom.
The CS described Hakizimana as a talented coach remarking that his demise alongside Kiptum, was a big blow to the the East African Community (EAC).
"On behalf of the government, I have brought with me some support for the family in this difficult moment. The government of Kenya will be donating Ksh5 million to support the family," he announced.
Hakizimana died alongside Kiptum on Sunday, February 11 after they were involved in a road accident along the Eldoret-Kaptagat Road.
In the weeks leading to the accident, the two spent a lot of time together since the world record holder was training ahead of the Rotterdam Marathon, which is scheduled for April.
Kiptum was eyeing to break his 2:00:35 world record at the showpiece event.
On the same day, CS Namwamba made the announcement, an autopsy conducted by Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor on Kiptum's body revealed that the record holder died due to injuries he sustained during the accident.
"Upon doing the postmortem, the findings are that the late Kelvin had severe head injuries. There were severe skull fractures which were mainly at the base of the spine. The spinal cord had intruded into the cranial cavity because of the fractures," he stated.
Kiptum is set to be buried on Friday, February 23. President William Ruto will attend the funeral.
As part of the government's plan to celebrate Kiptum's legacy, Ruto dispatched experts to build a three-bedroom house for the athlete's family.
At the time of his death, Kiptum harboured plans to build a house for his wife and two children.
