Africa-Press – Kenya. Respect and tolerance for one another will be the key to resolving many of the challenges bedevilling the athletics fraternity, Athletics Kenya president Jack Tuwei believes.
Tuwei said most of these problems arise from the fact that stakeholders do not see each other as human beings with key roles to play in the growth of the industry.
“At this juncture, I want to ask everyone within the athletics circle to respect one another, regardless of whether one is an athlete or a coach or an official. This will take us a long way,” Tuwei said.
Even as the committee tasked with preparing a report on AK’s month-long consultative forum in November with athletes continue their work, Tuwei lamented at how lack of respect has torn the social fabric for athletics stakeholders.
He expressed hope that cases of suicide, homicide and addictions involving various actors in athletics will subside once the underlying issues are sorted out.
“It is not fair to take another person’s life or of your own. We are compiling the report with all the issues highlighted during the forum. We do not want to lose any other life of an athlete or any other stakeholder. So we ask for patience as we work on the report,” Tuwei said.
The report is expected to be released by the end of January, based on the views of stakeholders who attended the series of consultative meetings in 15 regions.
The AK president also admitted the federation’s in-tray is full as they prepare for major competitions next year.
Tuwei reminded athletes of the busy calendar, which already began in October with the AK Weekend Cross Country meetings.
Echoing his boss’s sentiments, AK’s director of youth development Barnaba Korir said they must surpass the achievements of this year, which he described as positive amidst the adversities of Covid-19.
“This year went well despite Covid-19. We hosted the Under-20 championships, in which we did well, as well as the Continental Tour. Next year will be a busy year as we have the World Cross Country Tour and the Continental Tour in May. We have our basket full and we hope we are going to do as we did it this year,” Korir said.
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