By Anil Bakari
The London Paralympics games ended yesterday, with Kenya bagging several medals. Shocked? Well, that may be understandable.
First, you may not even have known that the games, which started on August 29, were going on and second, you did not know the Kenyans athletes who took part in the event.
Samwel Mushai was among them and he won Kenya its first gold medal in the 1500m race and set a world record of 3:58.37.
His compatriot Henry Kirwa came third in the same race bagging a bronze medal. But despite this achievement, little was said about them and the other athletes in the media.
Compare this with the Olympics games. Several government officials, led by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, camped at Kenya House to ‘boost’ athletes’ morale and media houses set bases in London to ensure they feed their audiences with up to date information.
Why the double standards? Do ‘paralympians’ deserve less yet they represent the country as good as the able-bodied athletes?
You can bet that no one will set up a commission to investigate how the athletes performed in the games.
