Renowned environmentalist, Dr. Isaac Kalua, has expressed concern over the lack of proper grooming of talented athletes from Kitui and offered to sponsor an annual Green Cross-country race.
Kalua was jolted by the poor showing by the team from Kitui during a cross-country competition at Kitui High School against their compatriots from Makueni and Machakos on Saturday.
Kalua lamented that although Kitui was well endowed with talented youth not only in sports but also in art, they never got the opportunity to exploit their acumen for lack of training.
He consequently announced that his own environmental outfit, Green Africa Group, would next year sponsor the Green Cross Country to the tune of Sh300,000 to identify talented athletes in Kitui for grooming.
“In my individual capacity and the green Africa Group, we will launch the Green Cross Country. I have been informed that for the event to successfully take place it requires a budget of Sh300, 000. I will put the money into the kitty,” said Kalua.
Kalua who is the CEO and founder of Green Africa Group said he would make the sponsorship of the Green cross-country an annual ritual to ensure that no talented sportsman was left behind.
He spoke at the Kitui High School grounds where he was the guest of honor during the Ukambani Inter-County Cross-Country competition that was attended by the AK Southern branch chairman, Paul Mutwii.
The competitions were organized and hosted by the Athletic Kenya Kitui county branch under the chairmanship of Philip Ngovi.
The event was used to pick sportsmen who will represent the region during the national cross-country championship at Ruiru on January 21 in Kiambu County.
Kalua lamented that no single athlete from Kitui qualified to be part of the team that will represent the region at the Ruiru national competition.
He noted that participants from Kitui County were obviously ill-prepared as they had not been exposed to any preparatory training. He said those from Makueni and Machakos counties appeared more groomed.
The conservationist said Kitui leaders should have hitherto exposed the athletes to training and in-house competitions for them to perfectly compete with those from Makueni and Machakos at the Saturday cross-country.