Amos Abuga @PeopleSports11
Ugly scenes were witnessed yesterday as the Kenya Paralympics team took to the streets over unpaid allowances, causing a major traffic snarl-up along the busy Thika Superhighway.
The ‘peaceful’ demonstrations turned ugly with more than three athletes sustaining injuries from suspected police brutality while others were arrested.
“As we speak, we are trying to get three of the athletes to the hospital after they were attacked by the police. It is shameful since they were causing no harm,” team captain James Mong’erere told People Sport.
He added: “This was the last resort. We were left with no option because they had told us that the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Sports would visit us but that was just a promise.”
The 54 athletes took part in the fourth International Athletics Meeting held in Marrakech, Morocco from the April 23-27 and have been residing at the Blue Springs Hotel located along the highway.
The team arrived on Tuesday after collecting 42 medals (11 gold, 14 silver and 17 bronze).
Mong’erere said the accrued allowances of Sh100,000 per head dates back to when the athletes joined residential camp at Kasarani Stadium before travelling to Morocco. “The hotel is also threatening to eject us as their bills are yet to be settled,” said Mong’erere.
The latest outcry comes less than a week after another team that competed in the African Junior Athletics Championships in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire staged a seat-in at another hotel along the same highway over unpaid allowances.
