Moses Kipsiro is expected to meet the Inspector General of Police Gen. Kale Kayihura today after claiming his life is in danger and the immediate authorities are unbothered about the whole situation
According to monitor.co.ug, the reason is that he is protesting Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) and Uganda Police’s reluctance to take action against coach Peter Wemali.
Kipsiro believes that Wemali is behind the endless threatening messages he is getting from unknown people. Kipsiro wants Wemali to face the law after the latter was accused of sexually harassing female athletes last year.
I hope he (Gen Kale Kayihura) will be of help since all the other officers below him have frustrated me. Since last year, Wemali has been after me, in February, he was behind the beating of my brother during the national cross-country in Jinja and the federation and police didn’t do anything. If my brother was a murderer like they claimed when they attacked him in Jinja, how come he hasn’t been arrested?
His elder Brother Ben Sande Nawari was attacked by a group of men claiming to be police officers; they carried handcuffs but had no arrest warrant.
The 2014 1000m gold medalist at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland also pulled out of the World Cross-Country Championship in China this weekend moments before the team left for the airport on Wednesday.
I have cried out enough, let me stay here, maybe something will be done. I am also not settled mentally. I can’t concentrate on running under the circumstances however fit I might be. Early this month, after returning from USA, I joined the World Cross-country training camp in Kapchorwa. But the moment I switched on my Safaricom line, I started receiving calls from someone who was not willing to tell me his name. He kept calling me whenever I moved out of the camp, I got the feeling that I was being tracked. I switched off the phone and told the team coaches that I was leaving the camp. I felt unsafe. I returned home and decided to skip the competition in China.
Kipsiro was convinced by UAF general secretary Beatrice Ayikoru to change his mind and compete.
“Beatrice convinced me and promised to address the matter after returning from China,” he said.
But the athlete refused to travel to Entebbe after receiving a threatening message on his phone.
The message, from 0779 831637 read: continue putting me on press and tarnish me but remember one day, Chelimo will leave you or die and I will deal with you trust me. Chelimo (Julius), a soldier, is Kipsiro’s close friend.
On the other hand, Wemali has since distanced himself from the message and the threats Kipsiro is getting.
“I have no time to send a text message to threaten someone’s life,” Wemali told us. “I will never do it because I am not a fool to do such and get caught. Actually it is Kipsiro’s brother who is after me.”
Though Kipsiro insisted Wemali was behind the attacks.
“He uses other people to do his dirty work. I am sure he used someone’s phone to send me that message,”
“I showed them (UAF president Dominic Otucet and Ayikoru) the message but I realized they were not bothered,” narrated Kipsiro.
The matter was put to bed when Police claimed they had launched an investigation into the sexual harassment allegations but no action was taken.
UAF later revealed they had suspended Wemali but he was an active official during the National Cross-country Championships in Jinja in February.
Kipsiro believes that the intervention of the Inspector General of Police will solve the matter and bring all the involved parties to book.
