Roundup: Death threats to Ugandan star runner trigger controversy

Recent death threats to Ugandan star runner Moses Kipsiro have forced him to rethink participation in international events on behalf of the country.

Late last month the Commonwealth Games 5,000m gold medalist pulled out of the World Cross Country Championship in China.

In an interview with Xinhua on March 25, Kipsiro said he had pulled out of the event scheduled for March 28 because of alleged death threats from one of the coaches.

"I am mentality tortured by this threat," said Kipsiro, alleging that coach Peter Wemali threatened to kill him. Kipsiro argued that it would be difficult for him to concentrate with such threats.

Last year Wemali was suspended by the athletics body for allegedly sexually harassing a female athlete. Wemali's alleged violations were first reported to Kipsiro.

However, Wemali distanced himself from the threats and asked Kipsiro to take the matter to police because that is a criminal matter.

This controversy has aroused concern from Uganda's parliament, the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), and the general public here. Parliament has tasked government to thoroughly investigate the case.

Uganda has also explained to the IAAF about the death threats.

Dominic Otuchet, President of the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) told Xinhua on April 7 that the federation explained to the IAAF that the police was investigating the allegations.

"IAAF wanted to know what is happening here and we sent a detailed report and also explained that the police is investigating the matter," Otuchet said.

"There is no way we can point fingers at this matter till the police finalize their findings. We have told IAAF to wait," said the UAF president.

In a separate interview on Tuesday, the two-time 10,000m Commonwealth Games gold medalist said although he is not thinking of taking refuge in another country as some people are speculating, he is not happy that investigations are taking long.

"This is taking too long to handle. This matter will continue to affect my concentration levels if it is not handled and sorted out once," Kipsiro said.

Charles Bakkabulindi, Uganda's sports minister told Xinhua on March 30 that Kipsiro needs to be counselled.

"He needs to realize that he is not just running for the country, but he is also earning a living for himself and his family," said Bakkabulindi.

Bakkabulindi said it was wrong for Kipsiro to pull out of the team at the last hour alleging that someone is threatening his life.

"This is not the first time Kipsiro is coming out with issues ahead of a Championship. I once sat him down in my office and convinced him to make a trip where he won two medals," said Bakkabulindi.

He said the matter of someone sending the athlete a life threatening message on his phone should be investigated by both the police and the UAF.

Wemali's alleged sexual violations were investigated by the UAF and an independent investigation by the Ministry of Education and Sports. He was found innocent. Endi