President William Ruto has always been the man in the spotlight at State House, however, on Tuesday, all attention shifted to the daughter of double World record holder Faith Kipyegon.
On Tuesday Ruto hosted Kipyegon and 100 metres sensation Ferdinand Omanyala at State House after their impressive performance at the Diamond League track events.
A week after breaking the 1500m world record in Florence, Kipyegon etched her name into the record books for 5,000M, winning in 14:05.20 to set the new world record in the category.
Ruto was forced to pause his speech for some minutes as Kipyegon's daughter, Alyne innocently grabbed the document holder from the President's hands to get a glimpse of it.
To give the young girl a better view, the Head of State was forced to lower the document for her to see.
In a video seen by the Star, Alyne appeared to enjoy the spotlight as she was played and jumped around.
Before heading to where the president stood, Alyne first looked at her mother (Kipyegon) who was covering her face.
This prompted the girl to get curious, trying to understand what to do.
After taking a look at the document, she looked at her mother and proceeded back to playing.
As Ruto was reading his speech placed on a stand, Kipyegon's daughter was busy touching the Presidential seal.
Pictures shared by State House showed that Alyne bonded more with President Ruto and the Head of State even carried her on his lap.
The state awarded Kipyegon a three-bedroom house worth Sh6 million at Park Road, Nairobi.
President Ruto said the award is part of the government’s affordable housing project.
"The house we are giving to Faith is part of our affordable housing programme. A three-bedroom at Park Road would be somewhere between 15 to 20 million but because we have decided as a government that owning a house should be a necessity to Kenyans and not a privilege to the rich, this house has now been reduced to sh6 million," he said.
He added that the government will make sure other athletes buy the houses affordably.
"If other athletes also do well like you Kipyegon, we will make sure the government also rewards them. They will have the choice of claiming their rewards in either cash or kind," he said.
"We shall escort you to the residence at your convenience, to go and take residence of the house that is ready for you," Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Ababu Namwamba said.
