Athletics Kenya (AK) North Rift Region wants the County Government of Elgeyo Marakwet to come up with legislation to stop foreigners flocking in the county without proper documentation.
The leaders said the county government should coordinate with national government and Athletics Kenya (AK) to understand the interests of some foreigners residing in Iten.
While addressing a meeting on Tuesday, AK North Rift region public relations officer, Boniface Tiren, said most foreigners flocking the region in the pretext of promoting athletics in the region, have a hidden agenda. "Their aim is to taint the region in bad-light and by extension demean the country's athletics prowess ahead of the postponed Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan," he noted.
The county, which is well known for producing top runners, has in the recent past been portrayed as the 'Home of Doping' with the latest incident being a report by Norwegian journalist on syringes that were found at the open field in Kamariny Stadium. “We want to urge the county government to ensure our athletes are protected. They have to document all visitors coming to this county and make them produce proper documentation and proof of what their mission was and where they are residing,” said Tiren. He added that all foreign coaches and journalists coming to the country to write stories on Kenyan runners should get approval from AK before they embark on their duties.
“We are not against foreigners but the protocol must be followed to the letter. We are not defending dopers but we should protect the integrity of our runners and the region,” he added.
But County's chief executive officer, Josephat Maiyo, challenged the officials to address the doping menace and teach athletes to abide by the law. Maiyo lamented the majority of athletes lack respect and disciplines and most cases reported at Iten Police Station involve them.
"Athletes here can not even abide by simple rules like self-distancing, which is common knowledge," he observed. At the same time, he cautioned coaches and leaders that they should be wary of cartels that have tainted the name of the sport both at the national and international level.
"Athletics has its own cartels doing business to benefit themselves. To end these murky scenarios, we need to cut out the in-fighting and fight the common enemy," advised Maiyo.
