A backlash has greeted the unveiling of a sculpture of an athlete in Eldoret ahead of the award of Charter to elevate the town to city status on Thursday.
President William Ruto is expected to award the Charter to Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii.
The event was initially scheduled for August 8 but was moved to August 15 after consultation with the national government, Bii said.
“All arrangements will go on as planned to ensure that we have the best celebrations to welcome the new city of Eldoret,” Bii said on August 5.
President William Ruto is expected to preside over the handing over of the city charter to the governor at a ceremony set to be held at the Eldoret sports club.
But ahead of the ceremony, photos started doing rounds online of a graven image of a female athlete mounted at a roundabout near the Mediheal hospital town clinic.
It shows her in a sprinting pose donned in a vest with the image of the Kenya flag while clutching what appears like a machete.
Kenyans on social media speculated that the statue is that of 1500m world record holder and three-time Olympic champion, Faith Kipyegon.
Through hilarious comments, they said the sculpture had no semblance to the globally acclaimed athlete.
“Ignoring that the statue is very inaccurate, why is she holding a kitchen knife?” one asked.
“Engineer alisema hiyo statue ikikauka itakaa real, let's give it time,” added another Kenyan.
“Ata mtu alichonga hii anafaa whips mingi sana (Whoever curved this deserves a lot of whipping,” another one suggested.
“This is the mediocrity that we want to refuse. E for effort,” weighed in another X user.
Others described the sculpture as “horrendous, shameful and disrespectful” to Kipyegon with one suggesting that “she should sue the county government of Uasin Gishu”.
The majority of other comments were emojis of a laughing face juxtaposed between several other comments such as “please tell me this is a joke” and “Whoever did this needs to be punished”.
Reports emerged later that Uasin Gishu county authorities uprooted the statue.
