Encourage athletes to invest locally

Kenyan athletes have taken the ‘buy Kenya build Kenya’ maxim seriously, judging by their determination to open up businesses that promote our country. Renowned Kenyan athlete Lornah Kiplagat has launched an African women sportswear brand to be known as ‘Lornah’.

The launch, presided over by the First Lady Margaret Kenyatta and attended by an array of Kenya’s medal winners, was at the Galleria mall in Nairobi where the First Lady signed up with the Lornah brand which she will use in training and during the upcoming First Lady’s half marathon that she has so much popularised in her efforts to provide all the 47 Kenyan counties with mobile clinics through her Beyond Zero campaign.

Kenyan athletes are doing a great job investing in their country after making great fortunes abroad. Apart from Lornah’s apparel that might one day rival the established sportswear giants like Nike, Kenyan athletes have invested heavily in farming and real estate. A town like Eldoret boasts of a building like the Komora Centre which houses a giant supermarket and was put up by the 3000 metres steeplechase champion Moses Kiptanui.

Besides the business angle, most of Kenyan athletes have invested in human resource by setting up camps like the Kip Keino training centre that taps local talent and ensures that Kenya remains a power house in the world of athletics. Job creation in their business ventures is a positive attribute towards giving back to the society.

By signing for the Lornah brand, the First Lady has shown the way and the Government should do more to encourage our sportsmen and women to invest in their country. We have been losing athletes to other countries where prospects are better and the Government should endeavour to arrest the trend.

If, for instance, the Government gave special tax relief to foreign earnings by Kenyan athletes, it can encourage them to invest more locally and improve our economy. The Government should also intervene to solve the wrangles that beset Athletics Kenya and which threaten to kill the morale of our hardworking athletes and sports ambassadors.