Pain of our champions should not be in vain

This has been a month of shame for Kenya. Paradoxically, the event that shamed us was also the one that showcased our best talent. This was to be Kenya’s greatest Olympics after narrowly avoiding a ban after our Sports law debacle and managed to avoid sanction on the drugs matter. Things however started going down the moment of travel to the Olympics.

It would appear that somewhere along the way, the Return on Investment in the “cheering crowd” was so attractive that some critical non-core investments, like Silver winning Joseph Yego, were forgotten. I understand it took the protests of his fellow Olympiads to get him a ticket at the appropriate time to travel to Rio. By the way someone should publish names of every Kenyan who travelled to Rio on the public purse and the justification for their trip there!

Getting to Rio did not end the scandal. Two senior officials accompanying the team were recalled back to Kenya on allegations related to drugs and impersonations. That was not all. There were incessant complaints by the team of poor management of their affairs including stolen kit and even the lack of cheering Kenyan fans despite the numerous persons that had attended Rio courtesy of the public purse. The shame continued after the games with international media reporting the plight of the Kenyan team that had been abandoned in some back street Brazilian hotel after the Olympic Village was closed.

Apparently, NOCK officials had booked cheap flights for the team, which were only available after the village was closed. Despite all these inconveniences Kenyan sportswomen and men performed splendidly. Kenya’s medal haul was the largest ever in the Olympics. The ladies were especially impressive bringing home the bulk of the medals that Kenya won.

Finally, the team got home. More shame. Other countries which had not done as well welcomed their athletes with pomp and circumstance at their national airports. Sadly, the Kenyan largely slunk back uncelebrated other than the traditional family organised mursik sessions. How did we sink this low?

The Olympics are the ultimate sports event held predictably every four years. Kenya is a premier participant in this jamboree and has been part of the Olympics for decades. We cannot act like this is our first time to organise Olympic attendance. Dr Wario may purport to carry a big stick now but it is like closing the stable after the horses have bolted.

There can only be two possible explanations on the minister’s engagement in this matter. Either he had no knowledge of the extent of the incompetence and mismanagement at NOCK prior to the games, in which case he is negligent that being his docket, or he knew of the state of affairs and did nothing about it in which case he is incompetent.

While the option of disbanding NOCK and probing the activities therein is a useful knee jerk reaction and will quieten the noise, it opens up myriad doors that may injure Kenya’s relationship with the IOC. We cannot pick another fight with the IOC after the Sports law debacle unless we are very strategic. The minister should comb the IOC statutes very carefully, see the opportunities available therein for action and then consider what options he has. Whatever action he takes must, however, not prejudice the innocent sportswomen and men.

A poor relationship with the IOC will do just that. Our champions have gone through enough. One of the saddest things is how Sports, particularly athletics, is one of the few things that all Kenyans are jointly proud of. It is the one thing that brings our annoying tribal identities and barriers down. Instead of finding ways to enhance the Kenyan brand through athletics and to use it as a symbol of unity, we are busy finding ways to exploit it at the expense of our sports people. We are a nation to be pitied. May it be that the shame of these Olympics will be the catalyst that forces us to clean up house. Then the pain of our champions will not have been in vain. Meanwhile, congratulations to our team; we owe you a lot.