Another Take: Running from murder and abuse in Kenya
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 749 Ratings
🗓️ 7 September 2024
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Every Saturday, we revisit a story from the archives. This originally aired on June 3, 2022. None of the dates, titles, or other references from that time have been changed.
Kenya is famous for some of the fastest runners in the world, but recently, with the murder of Damaris Muthee Mutua and Agnes Tirop, that reputation’s been tarnished. Their partners are the main suspects in each case. Now, a fellow female athlete is trying to bring attention to gender violence amongst Kenya’s running elite. But is Kenya ready to hear what she has to say?
In this episode:
- Joan Chelimo (@joan_chelimo), Kenyan mother, wife, and athlete
- Malcolm Webb (@MalcolmWebb), Senior Correspondent for Al Jazeera English TV, based in Nairobi, Kenya
- Ruth Bosibori, Kenyan gold medal runner
Episode credits:
This episode was updated by Tamara Khandaker. The original production team was Amy Walters, Negin Owliaei, Ruby Zaman, Ney Alvarez, Alexandra Locke, and Malika Bilal.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.
Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
Connect with us:
@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Hi, I'm Tamara Kandakar. I'm a producer with the take coming to you with another take, where we resurface stories from the archives. |
| 0:20.0 | Last month, Ugandan long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptigay competed in the Paris Olympics. |
| 0:26.9 | This week, she was murdered, doused with gasoline, and set on fire by her boyfriend, |
| 0:33.3 | according to police. |
| 0:35.2 | Kenyan media reported that he'd attacked her |
| 0:37.8 | during a dispute over a house that she'd built in Kenya |
| 0:40.8 | where she'd been training. |
| 0:42.7 | This is the third time a female runner |
| 0:45.7 | has been killed in Kenya by a significant other. |
| 0:48.6 | Back in 2022, we reported on the deaths of runners |
| 0:53.0 | Demaris Mutua and Agnes Tirup. |
| 0:56.4 | That original episode aired June 3, 2022. |
| 1:00.6 | All dates and references are from that time. |
| 1:03.2 | The song, Kenyan runners can be tough competition. |
| 1:18.7 | There are multiple reasons as to why this part of East Africa produces so many world-class runners, |
| 1:24.7 | but one undoubted factor is altitude. |
| 1:27.1 | Many of these cross-country runners have won several medals in different championships, |
| 1:32.0 | and they hope to bring more of them home. |
| 1:34.6 | But the gleam for many of those medals was recently tarnished. |
| 1:39.3 | In April, Demaris Mute Mujua, a Kenyan-born runner for Bahrain, |
| 1:47.3 | was found dead in her home in Kenya's Rift Valley. |
... |
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