NAIROBI, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's celebrity athletes are taking advantage of their 'charm offensive' to stake their place in politics.
Whereas in the past it was sports administrators who used sports as a springboard to politics, the scene has changed and has seen active and retired sportsmen, mainly elite athletes, strive to join the political class.
From Olympians to world record holders, the range of athletes who are joining politics is increasing by the day.
Elijah Lagat, who won the Boston Marathon in 2006, became the first active athlete to win a political seat when he was voted in as the Member of Parliament for Emgwen Constituency in 2007 at the age of 41.
He was followed into the National Assembly in by Wesley Korir, the winner of the 2012 Boston Marathon and who was the captain of the Kenyan team to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Former 800m Olympic champion, Wilfred Bungei and former world marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang have also joined a growing list of athletes who will vie for political seats in the next election in 2017.
Bungei, who won the gold medal for Kenya during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has already launched his bid for a parliamentary seat and hopes to bring transparency into the management of sports if elected.
So, what are the probable reasons for this growing interest in politics?
"The celebrities are relying on their popularity and success to cast a spell on the electorate. Those who are over their prime also want to focus on more demanding roles like politics," athletics coach, Peter Ngerisei, told Xinhua on Saturday.
"It is their right like others to join politics and their decisions ought to be respected. You can have any career and still have a passion for politics. People are free to have any career as long as it is legal," Ngerisei added.
Former 5,000m runner, Protus Ruto, said athletes make good leaders because they have faced many struggles in life and know how to solve them.
"People should select leaders who are doing great for their country. If athletes are doing good to create milestone in developing society's basic needs, then there is no harm in electing them and they should be supported," Ruto said.
Since athletes are very well known by people, the popularity pressure has the effect to make them do well because they care about their impression.
Many athletes are self-made citizens who probably went through the rough grind of life and thus they know the difficulties that people undergo to become successful.
