A few days ago, Athletics Kenya claimed that Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala was to blame for the visa delay that almost saw him miss out on the World Championship in the USA.
AK in a statement said the 100M sprinter was expected to undertake an individual assessment test at the Embassy’s visa section to which he did not comply.
Signed by its President Gen (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei AK said at that point neither it nor the ministry could intervene as that is a requirement.
“Thereafter, Athletics Kenya engaged an external expert firm to process the visa applications for the travelling delegation to ensure a smooth process without challenges. Athletics Kenya did not engage the Ministry during this initial visa application,” said Tuwei.
“It is important to mention that Ferdinand Omanyala went for Visa Biometrics at the Embassy of the United States in Nairobi on July 7, 2022, alongside other athletes. The rest were issued their visas 2 days later while Omanyala’s passport was not released. When we enquired why, we were informed that he needed to fill in an additional form referred to as supplementary questions for visa applicants to verify some facts.”
Now, Ferdinand Omanyala has issued another statement urging Kenyans to stop the blame game, stating that the gov’t ‘actually’ helped him.
“Like I said, there is no one to blame on my visa delay. We all as athletes went for VISA interviews to the embassy. After that, I was sent supplementary questions that needed clarification. But on Thursday, a day before my race, my VISA was not out. It was through gov’t intervention by the ministry of Sports and Athletics Kenya Kenya that I got my VISA. In fact, the ministry of Sports through CS Amina were instrumental…,” he said in a tweet.
Lets stop pointing fingers. The government actually really helped.
@moscakenya
@ambaminacmohamed pic.twitter.com/jBqvAexmK4— Ferdinand Omurwa OMANYALA M.B.S,O.G.W (@Ferdiomanyala) July 22, 2022
A section of Kenyans on Twitter felt that it was not wise foe hi to come out to defend the ministry of Sports which allegedly frustrated him.
Here are some of the comments from the netizens:
Lakini to be sincere,i dont know who expected you to win,countries like USA with pple like akina kerley n those from canada n jamaica,were there(orogon) to take the gold medal home,i thnk you are best suited in east africa championship
— imani immah (@Lovielovie10) July 22, 2022
The fact that you have to defend the government in the first place means there's a serious problem somewhere.
You're a sportsman not a politician , you have to maintain professionalism, so i totally understand why you can't condemn the government's actions however much Isa wrong
— The King⚖️Maker🇰🇪⌚ (@lawyerX254) July 22, 2022
You see Omanyala however much you protect the government and the ministry they are down bad and you know that.
There are several instances of Kenyan sports men and women in different sport categories suffering outthere. They don't care you cannot change it but advocate 4 better
— Steeve Khavi (@1960dude) July 22, 2022
State capture 🤌 https://t.co/vymugDsOdC
— J.lingz (@Yobra_01) July 22, 2022
Sorry, I know they threatened you. https://t.co/RX3TIwlUrU
— Kagûrû 𝕏 (@SymonKaguru) July 22, 2022
State capture is real guys https://t.co/S80mkrOL1Y
— Thee na Cara (@gaddafi236) July 22, 2022
