Baringo mzee braves weather, thorns to rebuild Kabarnet stadium

What do you do if you're 61, your knees ache and your feet hurt but you're passionate about a 14-day mission on foot?

The walker is Baringo ex-chief Joseph Malatit Chebii and he's planning to cover 354km to State House, Nairobi. 

He braves thorns and rocky terrain in his march from Baringo, which started last Tuesday.

The Kimoso sub-location assistant chief is undaunted.

His mission is to raise funds and awareness of the stalled Kabaret stadium and to get its construction restarted and completed. 

How does he manage to survive the scorching heat, freezing nights and many kilometres a day? 

He does stay in a lodging at night, paying with his savings. He's up at 6am and eats a hearty breakfast to last all day. At 4pm, he finds a lodging.

No meal during the day. And no hitchhiking.

“When I feel weary, I mix a small portion of the honey I brought along with water and drink," Chebii says.

He eats local mangos and bananas along the way.

“On a hot day, I'm forced to drink up to four litres of water mixed with a quarter-litre honey to regain the energy and fluids lost through sweat,” Chebii told the Star.

When it's cold he doesn't drink much water.

As the weather is changing, he's concerned about his health and getting malaria or the common cold.

But he doesn't have time to visit a health facility so he treats himself.

He goes into the bush and harvests traditional herbs — a combination of roots, bark and leaves of nine indigenous trees.

“I soak them in a litre of water and drink a dose every morning after breakfast and in the evening. I really helps.

"I feel healthy and strong," Chebii said. The tonic works.

He wants President Uhuru Kenyatta and other political and business leaders to help. 

“Sharp thorns pierced my feet through my soft sports shoes," Chebii told the Star.

"I slipped and fell down several times along the hilly Kabarnet-Nakuru highway but I swore nothing would stop me from finishing my journey” Chebii said.

The roads in Baringo are pathetic, bushes encroach and the terrain is uneven. 

Chebii wants to create attention and raise funds to complete the stadium. The current Baringo administration says there's another claim on the land, so the problem is legal.

On Sunday Chebii he rested for the day in Nakuru town after covering  170 kilometres in four days.

He started his remote Eron home in Salawa, Baringo Central.

He will continue on Monday.

“The journey is really tough," he told the Star. 

"Due to my old age, my knees, my feet and body sometimes refuse to walk but I keep telling myself the journey is still far and I cannot give up,” he said.

Mzee Chebii is determined to meet President  Kenyatta at State House. He also wants to meet Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa and National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) president Paul Tergat, born in Baringo.

“I just want to approach and request them to help raise funds to construct and equip Kabarnet stadium into an ultra-modern world class model.

"Only then will my heart be at rest," Chebii said. He's financing his trip with his Sh30,000 savings, but he wouldn't mind if someone helped with food and lodging.

Chebii said he doesn’t have any appointments “because in our Tugen culture a beggar always doesn’t know the time he will knock at the neighbor’s door for help”.

He also hopes for help from Baringo Senator Gideon Gideon Moi, Baringo Central MP Joshua Kandie and his Eldama-Ravine counterpart Moses Lessonet.

The resilient old man is dressed in an improvised white dust coat. He carries a banner reading ‘Kabarnet Stadium Tuokoe’ and holds a traditional beaded club. And there's a knapsack with essentials and honey.

Construction of Kabarnet stadium was initiated by former Baringo Governor Benjamin Chebnoi. It stalled in 2014.

“I believe it stalled due to lack of funds," Chebii said.

“I find it shameful seeing youths going to train in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties when we can have our own facilities,” he said.

Governor Stanley Kiptis said the halt to construction was necessary as there's another claim to the land and there are documentation issues.

Cheboi’s ex-officials said, however, the land was already being demarcated as a public utility. They said construction was 70 per cent completed.

Currently the abandoned, rocky, dilapidated stadium is a magnet for drinkers of illicit brew and for lovers. The field is littered with used condoms and sachets of liquor.

Steep trenches have caused the death of one man who stumbled in. Livestock too have fallen in.

"Despite my old age,"Chebii said, "I have decided to it take upon myself to go  on a charity walk to seek  funds to complete the stadium. It's because I love my people."

(Edited by V. Graham)