President William Ruto has advised athletes and sports personalities to adopt safe lifestyles while urging veterans to mentor prodigies into making better life choices.
Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late world record marathon holder Kelvin Kiptum in Elgeyo Marakwet, Ruto, in a thinly veiled message, attributed his death to a certain lifestyle which he deviated from explaining further.
“We all need to be mindful of our lifestyles so that we can avoid instances like these, where a very promising good Kenyan has lost life,” Ruto advised.
“We are going to involve the managers, to ensure we mentor young people and young athletes into great sportsmen. The older sportsmen and women should do more in mentoring and guiding the young ones to help be successful.”
He also pledged to direct Members of Parliament to enact laws which would improve the sports sector and the well-being of athletes.
“The stadium and training centres you have asked for are now a possibility because we have secured funding. I’m going to tell MPs that we are bringing the sports funds law to Parliament so that we can amend it to eliminate things that were compromising the fund,” he stated.
What We Know So Far on Kiptum's Death
Post-Mortem Report
Kiptum and his Rwandese coach Gervais Hakizimana passed away in a road accident along the Eldoret-Kaptagat Road on Sunday, February 11. A passenger, Sharon Kosgey, who was seated at the back was the sole survivor of the road carnage.
Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor on Wednesday, February 21, stated that the late marathoner's death was caused by extensive head injuries sustained from the impact of 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,” Johansen explained.
Last Moments
Detectives drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), a day earlier, established that the late Kiptum visited three different restaurants on the night of his death.
According to CCTV footage, Kiptum visited the Alex Inn Restaurant which is located along the Iten-Eldoret highway, and the Well Irish Pub and Restaurant located at Rupa Mall in Eldoret town in the company of Hakizimana and Kosgey.
The trio then left for the Grand Miarmir Guest House in Annex, a few kilometres from the second restaurant, where the late had his last supper before heading towards Kaptagat.
Survivor Narrates The Last Moments
Sharon Kosgey claimed that she noticed the vehicle veering off the road and alerted Kiptum who was driving.
The deceased, however, was unable to steer the vehicle back onto the road, leading to a crash.
Preliminary Investigations Rule Out Mechanical Car Problems
On Tuesday, February 13, Elgeyo Marakwet Police Commander Peter Mulinge revealed that the trio's car was in good mechanical condition at the time of Kiptum's death. The investigations involved an in-depth analysis of the vehicle's light system, tyres and brakes.
"The examiner said there was no pre-accident evidence of a mechanical breakdown, which basically means it had good breaks, tyres, lights, everything mechanically okay," he noted.
Sharon, the survivor, through a statement recorded by the DCI officers, concurred that the vehicle was in perfect condition and had not experienced any issues before the accident.
