Kenya has been losing athletics talents to cash-rich countries over the years but amidst the allure of the big bucks, there are some who rejected the millions to retain their citizenship. Who are they?
Kenya has lost a lot of athletics talents to cash-rich Middle East, Europe and American countries over the years with the athletes’ decision to renounce their Kenyan citizenship dividing opinion.
Stephen Cherono, now Saif Saaeed Shaheen, Ruth Jebet and now Winfred Yavi, are just a few of the many who dumped Kenya for the Gulf after being lured by the millions on offer in the Asian countries.
However, there are some who went against the grain, opting to stay loyal to their country by turning down the millions they were offered to retain their Kenyan citizenship.
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Pulse Sports highlights the Kenyan sports stars who turned down millions to switch nationalities.
Dennis Oliech
Harambee Stars legend Dennis Oliech.
Former Harambee Stars captain Dennis Oliech made headlines at the turn of the millennium when he refused over Ksh100 million to change citizenship from Kenya to Qatar.
At the time, Oliech was ranked alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie amongst the world’s most promising young players and just aged 19, he was offered a chance to switch to Qatar in 2004, while turning out for Al-Arabi.
“Qatar gave me a good offer but at that time, I was still young. So, I wasn’t able to decide whether it was a good or wrong move. It was between Ksh100 million and Ksh 150 million. They had already given me a new name and a passport,” Oliech said in a past interview.
Oliech would go on to play in France for Nantes, Auxerre and Ajaccio before returning to the Gulf with Dubai CSC and then ended his career at Gor Mahia but in recent interviews, he has claimed that he now regrets that decision.
Ezekiel Kemboi
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Ezekiel Kemboi to make public appearance
Kenya’s steeplechase legend Ezekiel Kemboi is another one who would have been donning Qatari colours had he accepted an offer to switch nationalities.
“I was approached a long time ago to run for countries like Qatar but I said no, money would not change my nationality and I will remain like that forever,” Kemboi disclosed in an interview with Sports Wave Africa Foundation.
The steeplechaser was approached in the early 2000s when his career was just taking off and he said no, a decision that would benefit Kenya greatly, as he won four world titles and two Olympics gold medals in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Moses Tanui
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Kenya’s long-distance running great Moses Tanui is another one who refused an opportunity to run for another country when he was approached by Italy in the 1990s.
Tanui became the first man to run a half marathon in less than one hour when he set a new world record of 59:47 in Milan, Italy in April 1993. That fueled the desire of the European nation to get him to the country but he would hear none of it.
“I had been offered Italian residency but I declined because, during my days, patriotism was key. The rewards by the foreign country were huge, but running for your country comes with a sense of pride,” Tanui, a two-time Boston Marathon champion, told the Standard in a past interview.
Janeth Jepkosgei
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The likes of Jebet and Yavi would have found Janeth Jepkosgei in Bahrain had things gone to plan 20 years ago.
Jepkosgei, the first Kenyan woman to win a world title in 800m, revealed how frustrations of not getting selected into the Kenyan team to a number of global events, despite winning at the trials, saw her explore her options.
Having been approached to switch nationalities, she decided to quit Kenya for Bahrain in search of running opportunities in 2005 but the quick intervention of former Athletics Kenya president, the late Isaiah Kiplagat, saved face for the nation.
“In 2005 I met some guys and there was this move of going to Bahrain and Qatar and I had all my papers plus all the money [which she was to be paid] on the papers so I came after closing the season in Italy and went to Athletics Kenya,” Jepkosgei told NTV’s Spot On last November.
“I met the late Isaiah Kiplagat and I told him; ‘I want to change, I want to run for Bahrain.’ He told me; ‘Okay, I am like your father, this is nothing, next year you will be in the team.”
That is how she made it to Team Kenya for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, winning gold, to set the stage for her historic World Championship gold medal in 2007 in Osaka, Japan and as they say, the rest is history.
