FEATURE Kenya’s sports personalities who lost everything they worked so hard for

Pulse Sports highlights the athletes who had it all but now only hold onto good memories after seeing it disappear in thin air

Kenyan sports personalities are always the pride of the country when they win various events and fly the country’s flag high.

At the peak of their powers, they become famous, sometimes rich, and everyone wants to associate with them.

However, as it is common with life, not all live to tell good stories later as some end up in situations that they would never have imagined or wished for.

An illness, injury, ban, toxic relationship or financial decision gone wrong can easily ruin a promising career or comfortable retirement as some of them have found out the hard way.

Who are Kenya’s sports personalities that lost everything they worked so hard for?

Conjestina Achieng’

Conjestina Achieng’, the famous Hands of Stone, put Kenya’s women boxers on the map. Conje’ as she is popularly known, won a number of international titles which made her a darling of many and with it can fame and some fortune.

She received a number of endorsements deals as corporate entities fought to feed off her fame. However, when her powers started to wane, everyone deserted her. The former World Boxing Association Middleweight champion was then diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder, a mental illness, in 2011.

Since then, she has been in and out of hospital, the latest being the Mombasa Women Empowerment Network Hospital where she was discharged last month after almost a year.

Conje has been unrecognisable during this painful period but she is on the mend now and was recently offered a job by former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko immediately after leaving hospital.

Pamela Jelimo

At the peak of her powers, Pamela Jelimo was unbeatable in the 800m race.

Jelimo announced herself to the world at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when she beat compatriot Janeth Jepkosgei to win gold, the feat coming after claiming the African title aged 18 the same year.

Kasabet Express, as she was popularly known, then capped off her year by winning the IAAF Golden League jackpot, now known World Athletics Diamond League trophy, which came with a $1 million (Ksh70 million then) reward.

However, in 2009, injuries came knocking and slowed Jelimo’s momentum as she failed to go past the semi-final of the World Championships in Berlin that year but in 2012 she recorded a comeback win at the Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey before finishing fourth at the London Olympics.

Her fourth place was elevated to third when Russian Mariya Savinova was banned for doping, handing her an Olympics bronze medal.

However, by this time, intrigues in her personal life were taking a toll on her as she tussled with a section of her family and managers over property, seeing her athletics career take a nosedive while she lost a huge chunk of her hard-earned fortune.

Maurice Odumbe

In 2015, Kenyans watched in disbelief when cricket great Maurice Odumbe narrated his heart wrenching story of survival on TV.

“From riding in BMWs to using a boda boda, sometimes I cannot believe it Jeff,” a tearful Odumbe told Jeff Koinange on KTN.

Odumbe’s fall from grace began in 2004 when he was banned from the game for alleged match-fixing and his fortunes took a turn for the worse.

He was quickly relegated to the dustbins of history and for a man who was part of the Golden Generation that took Kenyan cricket to great heights such as the semi-final of the 2003 World Cup and played in major tournaments, earning big buck, this was hard to take.

Odumbe—who has maintained his innocence to date—has since rebuilt his life and is back in the game, having served as Kenya’s head coach as recently as 2020 but the ban took away everything he worked so hard for and it has never been the same.

Maxine Wahome

At a time when her motorsport career was in top gear, Maxine Wahome found herself in deep trouble that has left her battling for her freedom.

The daughter of a former rally driver, Wahome has been in motorsport since she was five years old, participating first in autocross, then motocross before switching to rallying in her late teens.

Wahome was charged with the murder of her boyfriend and fellow rally driver Assad Khan who died in December last year after sustaining a leg injury.

The 27-year-old is accused of attacking the 50-year-old at their apartment in Nairobi but she has pleaded not guilty as the case continues.

However, given the history of murder cases in Kenya, it will be long before Wahome can secure her freedom and even now, her standing among the motorsport fraternity, sponsors and fans has already waned.

In June last year, she made history by becoming the first woman to win a World Rally Championship event in over two decades, claiming victory in Kenya's Safari Rally, a third-tier leg in the World Championship series.

However, as a result of the murder charge, the WRC released Wahome from its Young Rally Stars Programme which helps identify and nurture emerging motorsport talents.

Daniel Adongo

Another one whose star shone before it dimmed is Kenyan rugby ace turned NFL star Daniel Adongo.

He moved to South Africa in 2007 to join the Sharks' rugby academy and played professional rugby union in South Africa and New Zealand between 2011 and 2013.

Adongo then converted to American football, becoming the first Kenyan to ever play in the lucrative sport, after joining the Indianapolis Colts as an outside linebacker until 2015.

However, in 2020, photos of Adongo in a sorry state surfaced online, shocking Kenyans. The heavily built player they had been accustomed to was replaced by an unkempt and unrecognisable man smoking what appeared like marijuana.

It was later revealed that Adongo had sunk into depression and drugs after he lost his lucrative contract believed to be worth of $2 million (Ksh200 million then) after a woman accused him of domestic violence, a case that made the Colts sever ties with him.

Dennis Oliech

Dennis ‘The Menace’ Oliech was the first Kenyan footballer to earn mega bucks when he signed for Qatar’s Al-Arabi in 2003.

In 2004, he turned down a Ksh200 million offer to change his citizenship from Kenyan to Qatari. At age 19, Oliech was named by The Guardian newspaper as one of the world's most promising young players in a list that included future stars such as Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie.

In 2005, Al-Arabi turned down a Sh100m offer from Monaco to sign Oliech although the striker still moved to France the following year and signed for Nantes, starting a nine-year stay in the country that also took him to Auxerre and Ajaccio.

In April 2015, ‘Kajole’ joined Dubai CSC in the UAE Division 1 league after leaving Europe before returning home to much fanfare to join Gor Mahia in 2019.

By the time of his return to Kenya, Harambee Stars’ record scorer was not enjoying much fame and did not have a big fortune as the one he had when in Qatar and France.

He later admitted that his mother’s cancer treatment took its toll on his finances, leaving him without much. He has, however, soldiered on and now works as a football trainer for upcoming players, brand ambassador and occasionally as a pundit.

Duncan ‘Jamaica’ Kibet

Duncan Kibet’s CV would leave anyone with envy at what he was able to achieve in his athletics career. He won the Rotterdam Marathon, Milan Marathon, Chassieu half marathon, Lille Half marathon, Trith-Saith Leger Half marathon, Saltillo half marathon and Lagos Half Marathon.

In 2009, he won the Amsterdam Marathon in a record time of 2:04:56, making him the second fastest marathoner of all-time behind Ethiopian legend Haile Gebresellasie who was the then world record holder with a time of 2:03:59.

There are also second place finishes in three and a couple of half marathons. With that success, Kibet earned tens of millions of shillings from his running career but an injury in 2010 turned his life upside down.

He went to the Berlin Marathon that year but could not finish due to the pain and it is from there that he decided to do something about it. He entered a property exchange agreement to raise money to treat his injury and received Ksh2 million, which he used to seek treatment in Germany and was set for another Sh3 million.

“I only received the title in 2015 but then learnt that the house was collateral for a loan, which I knew nothing about. I was then evicted from the property and had to return home to my mother," he told the Star last year.

He was left homeless, penniless, and hopeless, living in squalor with his elderly mother. The idea of losing his wealth to fraudsters has left him battling depression and has even toyed with suicide a number of times.

Delilah Asiago

The now retired Delilah Asiago was one of Kenya’s top female long-distance runners of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Asiago won the 1995 Steamboat Classic, setting a four-Mile world record before claiming the Bay to Breakers race by setting the 12-km world record the same year. That was after winning the Falmouth Road Race that year, earning her the 1995 Road Racer of the Year award by Running Times.

She was banned for two years for doping during the 1999 Saint Silvester Race. She, however, made a comeback and in 2006 won the Dubai Marathon.

But a poor investment decision saw her lose all her earnings and now lives in abject poverty. She has been forced to pick tea in Charengany, Trans Nzoia county to make ends meet.

Moses ‘Gosko’ Wathi

Moses Wathi is one of the best volleyballers Kenya ever produced. His stinging attacks and strong blocks made him a revered middle blocker in the 1990s.

He won the league title with Nyeri Posta in 1994, earning them a ticket to the Africa Club Championships the following year

But after representing his club in national and international competitions as well as the national team, things took a turn for the worse when he was forced into early retirement in 2006.

He spent his retirement package to buy land and build a house but since then, life has been tough for him. Lack of a consistent income has seen him struggle to cater for his family and has to rely on menial jobs to make ends meet.

Suliman Bilali

Another boxer whose story has been well documented is Suleiman Bilali, the 2000 Summer Olympics light flyweight quarter-finalist, who has been battling a mental illness.

One of Kenya’s finest boxers with international wins behind him, Bilali has been in and out of rehabilitation centres because of his alcohol addiction and depression since he was sacked from his job in 2012.

He is currently a pale shadow of his former self. He is always unkempt and seems unable to coordinate his mind while speaking. Chewing miraa is his pastime.

In addition to the medals and representing Kenya at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics, Bilai has also received the Head of State Commendation. But two accidents – in 1998 and 2004 – started his fall.

“In the first accident, I was knocked down by a speeding car while training along the road and I had a fractured leg. In the second, I got head injuries and a fractured shoulder,” he told Al Jazeera in 2021.

“I lost my job in 2012 and my life has been full of misery since. I was depressed and my life took a totally different turn. I lost all my investments and my wife left me. Due to the sickness, making ends meet is my biggest challenge.”