The murder of Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei in Trans Nzoia County earlier this month has prompted the government to start psychosocial support for female athletes.
Cheptegei was set on fire by estranged hubby who later died in hospital.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen who attended her burial yesterday in Bukwo district, Uganda called for immediate action to address gender-based violence (GBV) in sports.
This was the third murder of female athlete witnessed in Kenya in recent past.
In 2021, world-record holder Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death and six months later Damaris Mutua was strangled.
Tirop’s murder led to the creation of a committee on GBV in sports that recommended a raft of measures to avert such cases.
Cheptegei was accorded military burial.
“We must implement these recommendations to create a safe environment where athletes can thrive. Among the key measures is the mainstreaming of psychosocial support for athletes and requiring that female sports camps be run by women, with men only offering support” Murkomen said.
Adding; “For travelling teams, we will ensure there’s a female matron for women teams heading to national, continental and international competitions, and end the current practice of some women teams travelling with an all-male technical team”.
He said Cheptegei’s tragic death should prick conscience to do more on GBV in sports.
“She had worked hard and catapulted herself to international glory, only for her dreams to be cut short by a vicious attack from someone she knew” he mourned her.
Agnes Tirop was murdered in 2021.
Murkomen was accompanied by Nandi Governor Stephen Sang, MPs Eveylne Chemutai and Dr Robert Pukose and the Kenya athletics fraternity.
