The saga surrounding Kenyan skater Kevin Kiarie deepened on Friday when the Kenya Federation of Roller Skating (KFRS) revealed it had launched investigations into his conduct.
KFRS president Anthony Mburu said Kiarie was neither registered nor affiliated with them, and had been participating in events as an individual and not as Kenya’s representative.
Mburu said the federation wrote to the global body informing them of Kiarie’s status. Mburu revealed that Kaire would not have been allowed to compete at the World Skate Games that started Saturday in Asunción, Paraguay, had he managed to travel.
“Ideally, we are supposed to clear him as the national governing body so that he can compete abroad, but he isn’t registered with us, and he is also not registered as a professional skater at the Registrar of Sports,” said Mburu in a telephone interview.
In a letter dated August 28 this year to World Skate and World Skate Africa, Mburu said no qualifier or trials had been held locally in any skating discipline.
“Consequently, KFRS has not qualified or authorized any skater to represent the country in 2026, this includes Kelvin Kiarie,” Mburu said in the letter, which was copied to the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports.
Aborted trip to World Skate Games
Mburu said that they learned that Kiarie had competed at Africa Skate Championships in Egypt and Benin in April from his social media platform.
“We advised him to seek affiliation with the Registrar of Sports or us after he was hosted at the Ministry of Sports, but he has never done that,” said Mburu.
The Kenyan skating official said they were investigating how Kiarie wrote to the continental and global bodies without their approval.
KFRS are the national governing body for skateboarding and speed skating, which are Olympic sports, together with downhill, scooters, online hockey and freestyle.
“Few countries engage in freestyle skating, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t support skaters like Kiarie who engage in the discipline. He has opted to do things for himself without involving us. It doesn’t make sense that he is the only one representing the country in the events,” said the KFRS boss.
Mburu’s reaction comes following a spat between Kiarie, the African freestyle skating champion, and the government over his failed trip to the World Skate Games in Asunción.
Kiarie was supposed to fly to Asunción through Panama but failed to secure a transit visa. He posted the development on his social media handles on Sunday.
“We have still not succeeded with the visa. The airline has me entangled in the same route. New costs have emerged after rebooking. As Kenyans, we have done enough, unless the PS for sports Elijah Mwangi intervenes as he promised,” said Kiarie.
Kiarie had tagged a Facebook post by the Principal Secretary Elijag Mwangi dated May 8, this year, congratulating the athlete for his exploits at the Africa Skating Championships in Benin and Egypt, respectively.
Mwangi noted that it was a performance that enabled him to qualify for the World Skate Games in Paraguay.
On Tuesday, Kiarie said he tried everything within his control to travel but failed.
“We were not accorded the appropriate support despite my efforts. Participating in this event could have been so special for me. I wanted to gift myself and my country but it's not good,” said Kiarie.
The skater said he would not respond to questions when Nation Sports reached out to him. He went ahead and accused Nation Media Group of publishing false stories about him without seeking his clarification.
“The ministry told you that I never requested funding from them, and you went ahead to report without seeking my side of the story,” charged Kiarie.
On Wednesday, Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said in a statement that after Kiarie’s concerns were brought to his attention, he instructed Mwangi to act. The Principal Secretary directed the Director of Sports, Bernard Ouma to contact Kiarie.
The skater indicated that his booked itinerary required transit through Panama and that he needed assistance to secure the necessary transit visa documentation.
As Panama does not maintain a resident embassy in Kenya, the matter required facilitation through the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs and the appropriate Panamanian diplomatic channels.
Mvurya said that since the matter arose over the weekend, the Directorate commenced preparations for the necessary official correspondence to facilitate his request at the earliest opportunity.
Kiarie, in a Facebook post, termed the CS’s response as “another lie,” explaining that he fundraised for his ticket and accommodation despite the promise of assistance.
On Wednesday, Ouma stated that he personally called Kiarie on Sunday requesting for his itinerary, but the skater provided an expired travel programme.
“The itinerary initially presented by Kiarie was for travel on October 2 and that day had already lapsed by the time the Directorate was handling the matter.
“I told him to give a new, up-to-date itinerary but he never submitted any and in fact went quiet,” said Ouma.
The Director of Sports said Kiarie had been advised to seek for funds from the ministry either through the KFRS or as a registered professional athlete.
“He has never done that. We only read about him when making demands on social media. The government has procedures and protocols,” said Ouma.
“Kiarie simply doesn’t want to follow the laid-down procedure because it's from that process that we shall be able to scrutinise the requests since we only fund championship events, not everything,” said Ouma.
Kiarie’s rift with the ministry of sports went viral for the first time in April this year after he used public means to get to the airport to travel to Egypt for the Africa Skate Championships, where he won two gold medals, and in Benin where he claimed gold and silver.
Ouma said the ministry has never received any funding request from Kiarie or the Kenyan skating body.
