DNK International By Our Reporter, Nairobi
When Kenya was this week announced as the host of the 2029 World Athletics Championships, Kenya’s long journey to bringing the sport’s biggest global event to Africa entered a new chapter, with Athletics Kenya President Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Jackson Kiprono Tuwei among the key figures associated with the historic bid.
World Athletics announced on September 15 that Nairobi had been selected to host the 2029 championships, making Kenya the first African country to stage the senior World Athletics Championships.
The decision followed a bidding process that also involved London, Rome and Munich, with Munich awarded the 2031 edition.
For Tuwei, the achievement represents another milestone in a remarkable transition from a four decade military career to the highest levels of sports administration.
Born on April 2, 1952 in the then Nandi District,Tuwei joined the Armed forces in 1973 and rose through the officer ranks.
He worked in the military for 39 years until 2010 when he hanged his boots (retired).
Tuwei joined the military as a cadet and eventually rose to Lieutenant General and Commander of the Kenya Army, a position he held from December 5, 2008 to November 30, 2010.
Records from the Ministry of Defence lists him as the 16th Commander of the Kenya Army.
His military career included responsibilities in operations, training and logistics.
He also served in senior command appointments, including Commander of Army Logistics Command, Commandant of the Armed Forces Training College and Commandant of the National Defence College.
He undertook military training locally and internationally, including studies at the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom.
Official records also describe him as having attended executive development, senior management and international defence resources management courses.
His military record also included international responsibilities.
He once served as an African Union Special Envoy on issues surrounding the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), working on efforts aimed at eliminating the rebel group and assisting communities affected by its activities in Northern Uganda.
But athletics was not completely new to Tuwei when he left the military.
In a previous interview with Daily News Kenya-International he disclosed that he was an athlete and sports captain while in secondary school.
He later became involved in military athletics and eventually rose to become chairman of Military Athletics in Kenya.
His transition into civilian athletics administration was gradual rather than sudden.
Before becoming president, Tuwei served as a senior official under the long serving Athletics Kenya chairman the late Isaiah Kiplagat and was involved in youth development programmes.
Kiplagat credited Tuwei with helping spearhead programmes that nurtured young athletes from their junior years into the senior ranks.
Tuwei became increasingly prominent within Athletics Kenya and served as vice-president before taking over the federation’s leadership in 2015.
He first assumed the presidency in an acting capacity after Kiplagat was suspended by the then IAAF Ethics Commission.
On December 1, 2015, the AK Executive Committee formally confirmed Tuwei as president.
He was confirmed by Athletics Kenya’s Annual General Meeting and has remained at the helm of the federation for more than a decade.
Under his leadership, Kenya has hosted several major international athletics events, including the 2017 World Under-18 Championships and the 2021 World Under-20 Championships, while the country has continued hosting the Kip Keino Classic and other World Athletics-sanctioned competitions.
Tuwei also chaired the Local Organising Committee for the 2017 World Under-18 Championships.
One of the biggest challenges during his tenure has been doping.
Tuwei has repeatedly acknowledged the problem and backed increased athlete education, testing and cooperation with the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya and the Athletics Integrity Unit.
In 2017, he admitted that Athletics Kenya had not done enough to educate athletes about doping.
Later, he said the federation had made progress through seminars and collaboration with anti-doping authorities.
Doping has not been the only challenge.
Athletics Kenya has also had to deal with age cheating, safeguarding concerns and gender-based violence (GBV) within the sport.
In 2025, Tuwei appeared before Parliament as the federation faced questions on doping, GBV and age cheating.
Despite the challenges, Tuwei’s tenure has coincided with Kenya strengthening its influence in international athletics administration.
In 2023, he became the first Kenyan elected as a World Athletics Vice-President.
He has also served as President of the Eastern Africa Athletics Region and Senior Vice-President of the Confederation of African Athletics.
In 2026, he was appointed interim president of the Confederation of African Athletics following the death of Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, pending elections scheduled for 2027.
His international profile rose further in September 2026 when he was re-elected to another term as a World Athletics Vice-President during the federation’s Congress in Budapest.
Tuwei has been particularly vocal about clean sport.
In 2025, while addressing Team Kenya ahead of the World Championships in Tokyo, he urged athletes to compete clean and leave the sport with their heads held high.
He has also warned athletes, coaches and managers that there is no room for cheating in modern athletics.
His memorable public remarks have often reflected the discipline associated with his military background.
During the 2017 World Under-18 Championships, for which he chaired the organising committee, he described the competition as “a tournament for posterity” and called on organisers to ensure that it was delivered properly.
His career has therefore followed an unusual path: from a young cadet who rose through the Kenya Army ranks to become a Lieutenant General and Army Commander, to a sports administrator overseeing one of the world’s most successful athletics nations.
At 74, Tuwei now finds himself at the centre of one of the biggest assignments in Kenya’s sporting history: helping prepare Nairobi for the 2029 World Athletics Championships, an event World Athletics says will be the first senior World Championships to be held on African soil.
His journey from the military barracks to the global athletics boardroom has consequently become part of the wider story of Kenya’s attempt to transform its dominance on the track into influence in the administration and hosting of world athletics.
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🗓️ [DNK-International@September 17,2026]
