Deputy Governor
County Executive Committee Members
China Global Television Network (CGTN) Team
Members of County Assembly
Meru Sports Council
Friends from the Lewa Conservancy
Government Officials
The Media Fraternity
All Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me take this opportunity to thank the organizers of this ceremony for an excellent job in putting this event together. I am delighted to be here today and to share this occasion with you. I am very happy to welcome you to this historic event marking the start of the journey towards the first ever Mount Kenya Mountain Running Championship; set right here in Meru County.
I want to specifically thank the steering committee, including Amb. Kirimi Kaberia-PS, Ministry of Sports; Mr. Angwenyi from Athletics Kenya; Dr. Kanga of the Ministry of Tourism; our host, Dr. John Mwangi-KESAL; Kinyua and Douglas Wakihuri-Meru Sports Council; Simon Gitau-KWS; KFS; Felicity Biriri-MCIDC; Prof. Nkinyangi-Meru Tourism Board and the First Lady; for the many hours they have sacrificed to plan this event. I also want to thank the Department of Youth Affairs, Sports and Culture led by Koome Miriti for working tirelessly to implement various activities for the success of this Championship. I also want to thank Lewa Conservancy for agreeing to partner with us to make this Championship a success.

Allow me to welcome our friends, the CGTN team, who have been with us since Friday; on a mission to promote our tourism industry.
Meru County is endowed with beautiful natural resources, including Mt. Kenya, which is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa. These resources have for a long time remained unutilized, especially from the Meru side, despite the fact that over 40% of the mountain sits in Meru County. Our plan as a Government is to open up Mount Kenya to mountain tourism for the benefit of the people of Meru County. This is the main reason why we came up with this championship.
Although this is the first mountain running championship in Mt Kenya, mountain running is not new in Meru County. Indeed, among the current global mountain running champions is a daughter of Meru, Purity Kajuju. This Championship will provide an opportunity to nurture upcoming talent as we celebrate and honour our mountain running heroes.

As I said earlier, this championship is not about medals, trophies or other awards; it is about the well-being of the people of Meru County. The course meets the international standards and we hope to attract elite runners to come and compete. At the same time, the Championship has been packaged for the local runners and we hope to make it enjoyable to everyone. The Championship shall have various categories of participants. These are the ‘Elite Men’ and ‘Women’, ‘Junior’, ‘Keep the Doctor Away’, ‘Institutions’, ‘Corporates’ and ‘Residents’ categories. This is a Championship for everyone.
Apart from promotion of Mt. Kenya mountain tourism and development of local sporting talents, the championship shall be seeking to create awareness for cancer care and prevention, and environmental conservation. As you all know, Meru County is among the leading counties with cancer cases. An estimated 1,633 new cancer cases occurred between 2015 and 2016, and this number increases each year. This is unacceptable. A number of initiatives have been launched to fight cancer in our communities, but we have not made significant strides towards arresting this situation. I want to commend the County First Ladies’ Association for joining us in this fight. We have established a cancer unit at Meru Level 5 Hospital and employed an oncologist, but this is not enough.
We have also established a Meru County Cancer Institute to improve prevention and early detection of cancer, as well as the quality of life following diagnosis and treatment.
Another equally pressing issue needing our immediate attention as a County is climate change, which has impacted negatively on the livelihoods of the people of Meru County. Meru County is primarily an agricultural county. Due to erratic rainfall, we have experienced crop failure and drying up of rivers, occasioning acute water shortage in downstream areas. On the 18th of this month, we shall hold a water dialogue forum to try to address some of these challenges. We have to conserve and protect our wildlife and environment for our benefit and that of the generations to come. Part of the proceeds of this Championship will be applied to support conservation efforts by the local community organizations in Buuri Constituency.

I want to extend an invitation to international participants, the people of Meru County and the entire country, relevant stakeholders and well-wishers to partner with us to make this event a resounding success.
It is now my pleasure to officially launch the Mt Kenya Mountain Running Championship, Meru-2020!
Thank you.
God bless you all.
Governor Kiraitu Murungi