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Kenya: Athlete Killed On Peace Mission
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The East African Standard (Nairobi)
29 January 2008
Posted to the web 28 January 2008
Vitalis Kimutai
Nairobi
An international athlete who was killed last Monday at Emarti village in Trans Mara District as a result of the post-elections violence was buried at the weekend.
Marathon runner Wesley Kimutai Ngetich's remains were interred at his home at Kiribwet village in Trans Mara on Friday at an emotional ceremony attended by hundreds of residents and local politicians.
Ngetich died of arrow wounds while being rushed to Tenwek Mission Hospital in the neighbouring Bomet District.
It has emerged that the athlete was shot while on a peace mission during a fight between members of the Kipsigis and Maasai communities.
Apparently, Ngetich, 31, had been mediating between members of the two communities and had teamed up with Pastor John Korir of the Church of God.
We have reconstructed the events that led to the shooting of the athlete, who was seen by the villagers as a pillar of hope and a role model in a remote area of the vast district.
Ngetich had in the day preceding his killing saved an eight-year-old boy, who had been shot during the clashes and rushed him with a tractor to Emarti Health Centre for treatment.
"Ngetich stumbled on wailing women with the boy writhing in pain by the roadside as he returned from his farm. He rushed the boy to the nearby health centre using a tractor," said a fellow athlete Julius Kiprono Kirui.
Kirui says the boy had an arrow lodged in his back after a shooting incident.
However, after leaving the injured boy at the health centre, the athlete was attacked by irate villagers who were armed with bows and arrows.
"He took to his heels to save his life ducking arrows and daggers thrown at him by villagers shortly after the injured boy was admitted in hospital," said Peter Rono, who sustained deep cuts on his left hand and leg during the fighting.
Ngetich at Grandma's marathon in the US with an unidentified athlete.
Ngetich went to his home after the incident, leaving behind the tractor he had hired to plough an 18-acre farm where he was planting maize seeds.
"He lost a bicycle worth Sh4,000 and three bundles of maize seeds valued at Sh8,640 as a result of the attack near the health facility," said Joseph Tonui, a local resident.
The following morning, members of the two communities were engaged in skirmishes and, as usual, when such incidents occur, Ngetich teamed up with Pastor Korir in efforts to call for a truce between the two sides.
"We were in a meeting when the members of the other community advanced towards us with war cries. He volunteered to go and speak to them to call off the mission while accompanied by Korir," said Stanley Bett.
Planned to run in the US
But the peace mission turned tragic a short while when the athlete came under a hail of arrows from the people he previously had a rapport with.
Ngetich, who used to train in Nyahururu, was meant to go to the US sometimes this month for an international race, but life was snuffed out of him as he sought to unite the communities and avert a crisis in an area that is prone to fighting.
Ngetich was born on December 15, 1977 at Kiribwet village in Kirindoni division of Trans Mara District to peasant farmers - Joel and Norah Siele.
He attended Olpopongi Primary School in the district between 1985 and 1992 where he sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations, but was unable to join a secondary school as his parents were unable to pay fees.
Ngetich was employed as a labourer in Kericho and Kilgoris towns where he worked as a watchman before quitting to pursue an athletics career. He made his debut in international meeting in 2003 in Kampala, Uganda.
Among the international events he has featured are - London Marathon (2004), Hastings Marathon (US) in 2004, Scatia Bank Toronto Marathon (Canada) 2005, Brussels Marathon (Belgium) 2005, The City of Los Angeles Marathon (US) 2005, Grandma's Marathon (Duluth, US) 2005,Roma Marathon (Italy) 2006, Houston Marathon (US) 2006.
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Others are Dublin Marathon (Ireland) 2006, Atleta Madrid (Spain) Marathon in 2006, Stockholm Marathon (Sweden) 2006,Grandma's Marathon (Sweden) 2006, Austin Marathon (US) 2007 and Grandma's Marathon (US) in 2007.
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