Unwell Kenyan athlete Nyandika Maiyoro sends President Uhuru urgent request

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Ailing legendary Kenyan athlete Nyandika Maiyoro has sent a passionate plea to the president to help him pay his hospital bills which has now accrued to hundreds of thousands of shillings. Maiyoro is also asking the government for protection from individuals who are out to posses land that was given to him as a token by former president Jomo Kenyatta.

In a video recording from the Christina Marine hospital in Kisii, a tearing Maiyoro said he had done so much for this country and pleaded with President Uhuru Kenyatta, opposition leader Raila Odinga and Interior Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i to come to his rescue.

“I plead with President (Uhuru) Kenyatta to come and help pay my bill in hospital. I also want Uhuru and Raila to come help me save my land from grabbers. This is land that I was given by Uhuru’s father when we came from the Olympics ,” a frail Maiyoro said. Maiyoro also sent a plea to the government to help him refurbish a house the colonial government awarded him for outstanding performances in athletics in 1952.

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Maiyoro, 88, has been ailing for years now and has been in and out of hospital. He has been detained in hospital over unpaid bills several times. He was among the first Kenyan runners to compete internationally, and made the first major breakthrough at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Maiyoro captained Kenya at the 1956 Olympics, where he finished seventh in the 5,000 metres with Kanuti Sum 31st in the marathon (2:58:42) and Joseph Leresae 18th in the high jump. In 1954 at a championship in London, Maiyoro placed fourth in the three-mile race and in 1961, he was decorated with a Member of British Empire (MBE) medal by the Queen of England and given Sh 6,000. At independence, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta rewarded him with a 50-acre parcel of land in Kisii.

However, the land is being grabbed and he is now pleading for protection from the government.It was previously reported that Maiyoro made history when he started a race 30 seconds later but ran it and won gold at the 1956 Olympics. Maiyor had been speaking to a journalist when the race began and dashed to the start point after his opponents had already run 100m. He has two wives and 14 children and they all live on land donated to him by the late Jomo Kenyatta.

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