The family of the slain athlete, Agnes Tirop, has discovered her secret wealth just a month after she was laid to rest.
According to the revelation made by her father, Vincent Tirop, while speaking to the media on Thursday, November, 18, the slain Olympian had amassed wealth that includes rental houses and several other businesses.
The father stated that he discovered his late daughter had left behind over 40 rental houses in Kesses area of Uasin Gishu County.
On top of that, he made it public that his daughter was running a number of businesses in the same area, including a hardware.
The discovery follows a directive by Justice Reuben Nyakundi of the Eldoret High Court granting the father to the slain athlete the right to collect, receive and do whatever is necessary for the preservation of her property until a permanent representative is determined by the court.
Justice Nyakundi issued the court order on Monday, November 15, and the father immediately embarked on the process of putting her wealth together.
"We received the court order on November 15 and we have come to check and collect her wealth. We have discovered that she has houses in Kesses. We have so far found almost 40 houses," the father stated.
According to the late Tirop's uncle, Daniel Bor, the family is also pursuing a substantive sum of money she left in her bank accounts. He noted that the athlete had bought many properties with the money she acquired after winning races.
"She used to receive a certain amount of money and they used it to buy different items and properties," he stated.
However, their efforts to collect her property suffered a major blow as most of it was under joint ownership with her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, who is the main suspect in her murder.
The family, however, insists that Tirop was not married to Rotich who also served as her coach. They accuse him of manipulating her to the extent of having all her wealth controlled by him. The family further noted that it had never received dowry from Rotich and thus a marriage proclamation was not done.
“Let it be known that my daughter was never married to the suspect. I have never met his parents or even received any dowry. What I know is my child was forced to drop out of her studies while in Form Three. The suspect had me arrested together with my wife when he eloped with my daughter for over six months,” Tirop's father stated in a past interview.
Apart from the houses and businesses, the family had earlier indicated that Tirop had bought land and registered it under Rotich's name. The couple had also started a joint poultry farm.
Other than amassing wealth, Tirop was sponsoring several kids by paying their school fees including Edward Mberia, a Form Three student at St Francis Kimuron High School who was also her pacemaker. She was paying school fees for other students at Chepalungu Boys High School, Kapkole Girls High School, Asururiet SDA Primary School, Ngechek High School and St Elizabeth Chepkunyuk High School.
Tirop was found murdered on Wednesday, October 13, inside her bedroom. Her partner, Ibrahim Rotich, was arrested days later while trying to flee to the neighbouring Tanzania.
