Why legendary Kipchoge Keino believes Kenya is a lucky country
.jpg)
Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 02.05.25. | 09:33
Having travelled to 187 countries during his illustrious career and public service, the two-time Olympic champion says none compares to Kenya in terms of potential
Legendary athlete Kipchoge Keino has described Kenya as one of the luckiest countries in the world, urging citizens to harness its vast natural and human resources for self-reliance and prosperity.
Follow Our WhatsApp Channel For More News
Having travelled to 187 countries during his illustrious career and public service, the two-time Olympic champion says none compares to Kenya in terms of potential.
"We have the best country. We can be able to produce other things to be able to care for our people,” Keino told Nation Sports.
The two-time Olympic champion went on to make a passionate call for economic independence.
He was concerned that despite Kenya's vast resources and human capacity, Kenya imports goods it can easily manufacture locally, from clothes to shoes.
"Take, for example, you are buying clothes from China and so forth, and yet we have material that can produce clothes in this country. We need our universities to produce young Kenyan graduates with knowledge of commercial textiles.
We need to be able to produce and make shoes like Bata. We need more Bata factories,” he offered.
He further spoke about how Kenya's ancestors used soil to make tools, noting that the same creativity can be used today to build local businesses and help communities grow.
"Our elders were producing mshale, mkuki, and other things using their tactics and soil. We can do the same thing today. The same soil can be able to produce many things for us to utilise," the legendary athlete offered.
He also urged leaders and citizens to embrace sustainability and self-sufficiency thanks to Kenya's abundance of natural resources like water, sunlight, wind, and fertile land.
"We have water from here through to Sudan, which we should be utilising. We have water to produce enough food to be able to take care of our people.
We have the sun. We have the wind. We need to utilise those facilities,” he averred.
Beyond his athletic success, Keino has practiced what he preaches. He is a large-scale tea farmer in Nandi and owns dairy cattle near Kitale, where his sons engage in value addition by producing yoghurt and selling milk.
.jpg)
