Celebrated Kenyan runner arrested on a drinking spree past curfew hours

Former World Marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang was arrested in Iten while out on a drinking spree past the stipulated curfew hours.

The two-times London Marathon winner, who is also a police officer was arrested alongside a Member of the County Assembly and twenty other people.

Kipsang is a Kenyan athlete who specializes in long-distance running, competing in events ranging from 10 km to the marathon.

He was suspended and charged by the Athletics Integrity Unit, for whereabouts failures and tampering with samples, in a doping scandal.

Under anti-doping regulations, athletes have to inform testing authorities of their whereabouts for a one-hour window every day.

Curfew enforcement

Last week on Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta issued the curfew directive which was met with a series of human rights violation by the police force.

Officers have been conducting patrols to enforce the nationwide curfew which is now a week old.

During the week, Kenyans have been rushing home early to avoid being caught outside, giving police officers an easy time as they enforced the curfew, which requires people to be out of the streets between 7pm and 5am.

The curfew was imposed as the government seeks to fight spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.