Uhuru orders Police to nab Tirop killers
President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed police to expedite investigations into the killing of Kenyan athlete Agnes Tirop.
Tirop who was part of Team Kenya at the Olympics Games in Tokyo was found dead on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, at her home in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County with stab wounds.
And while mourning the long-distance runner, President Kenyatta described her as a Kenyan hero and champion whose death is a big blow to the country’s sporting ambitions and profile.
“It is unsettling, utterly unfortunate and very sad that we’ve lost a young and promising athlete who, at a young age of 25 years, she had brought our country so much glory through her exploits on the global athletics stage including in this year’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she was part of the Kenyan team in Japan,” the President eulogized.
“It is even more painful that Agnes, a Kenyan hero by all measures, painfully lost her young life through a criminal act perpetrated by selfish and cowardly people,” the President said while directing the police to hasten the search and apprehension of the athlete’s killers.
“I urge our law enforcement agencies led by the National Police Service to track down and apprehend the criminals responsible for the killing of Agnes so that they can face the full force of the law,” the Head of State directed.
The 25-year-old burst into the national limelight in 2012 after claiming the junior cross country championships and was lucky to have met President Kenyatta the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Kenyan team in Mombasa when he hosted them in September.
She finished fourth behind winner Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, Hellen Obiri, and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay in the 5000m race.
Earlier, she set the new world record in the 10km road race after clocking 30:01 during the Adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany on September 12 this year.
The event saw athletes participate in the men’s and women’s half marathon races, men’s and women’s 10km road races, and the 5km road race in both categories.
The Head of State, who is out of the country on an official visit to the USA, prayed for God’s grace and calm for the family, friends, relatives, and supporters of Agnes Tirop as they come to terms with the athletes shocking death.