Kelvin Kiptum: Ababu Namwamba Consoles Heartbroken Wife of Athlete's Coach During Burial in Rwanda

 

Tears flowed freely as Gervais Hakizimana who died alongside Kelvin Kitum was buried. Gervais Hakizimana's wife Joan Chelimo consoled by a relative and Sports CS Ababu Namwamba as her husband is buried in Kigali, Rwanda. Gervais Hakizimana's last rites Kiptum died alongside his coach in an accident on the Eldoret-Kaptagat Road on Sunday, February 11. Hakizimana was buried at the Rusororo public cemetery in Kigali, Rwanda on February 21 in a sombre ceremony attended by thousands of mourners among them his Kenyan wife Joan Chelimo and Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Ababu Namwamba. Chelimo sobbed uncontrollably as her husband's body was lowered into the grave as a male relative helped her to stay on her feet. A Catholic priest dipped a flywhisk in a liquid he was carrying in a small bucket and gave it to Chelimo to splash on Hakizimana's coffin. Joan was assisted by two women believed to be her relatives to lay a wreath on her husband's grave. 

by  Caren Nyota