Sportspeople should help raise funds for starving Kenyans

Kenya has developed a new crop of celebrities with both local and international audiences who can be instrumental in times of need like the current famine facing parts of the country. [iStockphoto]

With great power comes great responsibility. Individuals who make it to the national limelight enjoy more opportunities to influence society than ordinary people.

In 2011, Kenyan celebrities approached the Kenya Red Cross and corporate leaders to launch the "Kenyans for Kenya" initiative. The fundraiser, which was in response to media reports of famine and deaths from starvation in Turkana County, managed to raise more than Sh500 million.