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Jan-9-2008
Kenyan Violence Causes Worries, Sadness for Lagat
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
The tribal violence in Kenya following the recent presidential election has caused both worries and sadness for double world champion Bernard Lagat. In an e-mail message sent to friends the Kenyan-born American described the challenges that his family has faced back home.
"I want to let all of you know that indeed, my family is safe," wrote Lagat. "Unfortunately, I have heard that some friends/neighbours that I know have been killed."
Most of Lagat's extended family has relocated to a safe village where his tribe, the Kalinjin, are dominant (Lagat is actually a Nandi, a sub-tribe of the Kalinjin). His mother is now looking after seven children. However, two of his sisters are unable to make it to the safety of the village
because they would have to pass through the city of Eldoret to get there, which Lagat said is too dangerous.
"I have been keeping in communications with her because her neighbour was killed and house burnt earlier in the week," Lagat reported of one of his
sisters. "So, she has been hiding in her house."
Consistent with news dispatches coming out of Kenya, Lagat reported that food shortages are now developing throughout the country, creating the
danger of a major humanitarian crisis. "Most of the worry now is for food. All the shops have been closed (fear of looting and no workers showing up) since the fighting began, so people are running out of food in the village."
President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election has rekindled old tribal jealousies aimed primarily at Kibaki's tribe, the Kikuyus, who are seen by other tribes as having benefited disproportionately since Kenya achieved independence from Great Britain in 1963. Eldoret, a mostly Kalinjin area in the Great Rift Valley, has been a hotbed for retaliation against Kikuyus who make up 22% of the nation's population of 37 million, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook.
"I am embarrassed to admit that it is my tribe that is causing a lot of the violence," Lagat wrote. "But I am proud that none of my family members condone it."
Lagat, who attended university in the United States and now lives in Tucson, Ariz., obtained U.S. citizenship in on May 7, 2004, prior to the Athens Olympics, but continued to represent Kenya. He announced his U.S. citizenship almost a year later, then set the wheels in motion to be able to
represent the U.S. in international competition. At last summer's world championships he made history by becoming the first man to win the 1500m and 5000m titles in the same meet.
"I wish that we will return to the peaceful developing nation that we once were, if not better," Lagat concluded.
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