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Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka
The marathon world record holder, Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum, will be honoured at the London Marathon on Sunday. Nearly half of Zambia’s population has been affected by
The 24-year-old died alongside his coach, Rwanda's Gervais Hakizimana, in a car accident in western Kenya in February. the on-going drought with the country needing about $940m (£760m) in
Kiptum was set to compete in this year’s London Marathon, where he was looking to win for the second year in a row. aid.
The event will begin with a tribute to Kiptum. During a national address,
"What we will be doing... is celebrating him," event director Hugh Brasher said in an interview with BBC Sport Today. Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said the money is rerquired to “effectively
"And we will be saying some words beforehand and asking all the participants to participate in 30 seconds of applause for Kelvin - for the life that we didn't know, for the man that we didn't know, but also for what he had achieved, for the man that he was and for the tragic passing of his life earlier this year." implement immediate life-saving and life-sustaining humanitarian and recovery
Kiptum had set records in all the three marathons he ran in his short-lived career. needs”.
He set the course record at the last London Marathon. He said “9.8 million of our people have been adversely
Shortly after, he ran the fastest marathon in history in Chicago, setting a record of 2:00.35. affected by the drought”.
Kiptum also set the fastest debut marathon time at his first marathon in Valencia. “Of these, 6.6 million people are in need of urgent
The Rotterdam Marathon, in which Kiptum planned to race, also paid tribute to him last Sunday. Participants, including Kiptum's wife Asenath Rotich, took part in a minute's silence in his honour. humanitarian assistance."
More on Kelvin Kiptum: Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi have also declared states of
The Kenyan marathon runner destined for greatness disasters due to the drought that is sweeping much of Southern Africa.
From borrowing shoes to breaking world records Mr Hichilema said the effects of the drought were mostly
observed in the agriculture sector were one million hectares of planted maize
had been adversely affected. Maize meal is Zambia’s staple food.
“With a heavy heart, on behalf of our government and the
people of Zambia, we hereby appeal to the international community, our partners
within the country, the private sector, the church and civil society
organisations, to support our plan financially and materially, in mitigating the
devastating effects of the drought,” the president said.
Besides the current food insecurity, Zambia has
implemented eight-hour long electricity rationing periods to conserve power as
most of the country’s energy is from hydro sources.
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