Kenyan prosecutors have charged two men, David Ekhai Lokere and Peter Ushuru Khalumi, with the murder of Ugandan Olympic distance runner Benjamin Kiplagat. The 34-year-old steeplechase specialist was found stabbed on New Year’s Eve in the outskirts of Eldoret in the Rift Valley town.
Lokere, 25, and Khalumi, 30, appeared before a magistrate’s court in Eldoret and pleaded not guilty to the charges. State counsel Antony Fedha opposed their request for bail, citing a criminal record and a potential flight risk.
Kiplagat’s body was discovered with a stab wound to his neck, and the motive behind the attack remains unknown. Police indicated that Kiplagat had been “waylaid” by the two men after he hit their motorcycle with his car.
During his 18-year career, the Kenyan-born Kiplagat represented Uganda internationally in the 3,000m steeplechase, participating in multiple Olympic Games and World Championships.
He won a silver medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2008 World Junior Championships and bronze at the Africa Championships in 2012. Kiplagat also reached the semi-finals of the event at the 2012 Olympics in London and competed in Rio in 2016.
The tragic incident follows the killing of Kenyan distance running star Agnes Tirop in October 2021. Tirop, aged 25, was found stabbed to death in her home in Iten, a high-altitude training hub near Eldoret.
While Kiplagat’s family believes he may have fallen victim to thieves rather than being specifically targeted, the investigations into the murder are ongoing. The runner, laid to rest in his ancestral home in Kenya, leaves behind an expectant wife, Viola, and a 13-year-old daughter.
