“This is a very unique event that brings warring communities together through sport in the most unique setting. It is indeed the Kenya that we want.”
Paul Tergat, Kenyan runner and former world record holder in the 10,000 meters and marathon.
Northern Kenya has a history riddled with inter-ethnic violence, an instability which catalysed cattle rustling, poaching and road banditry. Competition for natural resources among pastoralist clans, and high youth unemployment would often spark up low-lying tribal tensions, and end in conflict that affected communities, livestock and wildlife.
The Laikipia Highland Games (LHG) was an initiative born in October 2008 as a joint venture of the Gallmann Memorial Foundation and the Great Rift Valley Trust. The Games aim to use the fundamental values of sport in engaging people from different ethnic backgrounds to peacefully compete and connect with one another. The mission of the LHG is to foster good will, build relations, bridge divisions, and harness the natural competitive spirit of young people. They also offer a great way to tap talent in the Laikipia communities and encourage them to conserve nature and protect wildlife.
The games are held at Laikipia Nature Conservancy, and include modern athletics and colourful traditional tribal games that have been played for generations. The much-anticipated event draws in competitors and spectators from conservancies, ranches and communities from all over the area. This year, Ol Pejeta sent a team of 25 people, drawn from various departments around the conservancy. In football, we lost in the quarterfinals to Segera Ranch, while our volleyball boys finished fourth out of 32 teams. But our strongest discipline was athletics; we brought home GOLD in the 100m relay, while Peter Akatorot and Francis Raimon from our livestock department won silver in the 100m and javelin respectively. Sam Edapal, also from our livestock department, won bronze in the 800m, positioning us a very respectable second place on the athletics score table.
Ol Pejeta were proud to be part of such a pioneering event, that is playing a crucial role in bringing peace to northern Kenya’s communities and wildlife.