JUSTICE FOR KOMEN NOW: Fury greets Daniel’s tribulations as lifetime earnings wiped out

Daniel Kipchirchir Komen former Kenya athlete. [PHOTO: INTERNET SOURCES]

Top athletes and North Rift residents expressed fury following revelations that a former champion was allegedly swindled millions of shillings meant for investment by Uasin County Assembly Speaker Isaac Terer.

The story about Eldoret-based athlete Daniel Kipchirchir Komen, who says his sweat and hard work on the track has gone down the drain in a scheme that saw him lose Sh21 million was first carried by The Nairobian and KTN last month.

Komen, the 2007 World Athletics Final Stuttgart champion in men’s 1,500m, said he regrets his eight-year friendship with Terer, claiming his one-time confidant whom he trusted with all the money he got from racing to invest was behind his grace-to-grass story.

Several athletes who spoke to The Standard sympathised with Komen and his family, now wallowing in poverty, and demanded that justice be done in the athlete’s case. The athletes are planning an urgent meeting with Komen to plan how they can turn their colleague’s situation around.

Mary Keitany, 2016 and three-time New York City Marathon winner, expressed sympathy with Komen, saying it was sad if somebody who did not run on the track benefitted from his sweat.

“It is very painful and all stakeholders need to work together to help Komen out of the traumatising situation. It was heart-wrenching listening to his wife narrate her plight and that of the children despite the sacrifices they had.