NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A man accused of dousing gasoline on an Ugandan Olympic athlete, causing her death days later, has succumbed to burns sustained in the attack, according to the Kenyan hospital where he was treated.
Dickson Ndiema was admitted at the Moi Referral Hospital in the western Eldoret city for burns covering 30% of his body. Ndiema is alleged to have sustained the injuries after setting on fire Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who died last Thursday with 80% of burns on her body.
The hospital spokesperson, Owen Menach, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the hospital would issue a statement later but confirmed that the patient had died.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought land in the Trans Nzoia county to be near Kenya’s many athletic training centers.
The athlete's father, Joseph Cheptegei, told reporters last week that Ndiema, his daughter's former boyfriend, was stalking and threatening her and the family had informed police.
He said he wanted justice and lamented that the suspect was not being guarded at his hospital bed and expressed concern that he might escape.
Cheptegei is expected to be buried at her home in Uganda on Saturday.
Man accused of setting on fire a Ugandan Olympic athlete dies of burns
FILE -Rebecca Cheptegei, competes at the Discovery 10km road race in Kapchorwa, Uganda, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo, File)
Man accused of setting on fire a Ugandan Olympic athlete dies of burns
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen is expected to unveil the members of her new team for the next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc on Tuesday.
But it has been a tumultuous ride to get it ready for office — the search for the 26 members of her college was chaotic and scandal-ridden even before the parliament is to start hearings on whether to accept each proposed candidate.
French heavyweight Thierry Breton resigned and openly criticized von der Leyen for allegedly “questionable governance” on Monday and accused her of backroom machinations to oust him.
Many saw his shock resignation more as a removal by von der Leyen of one of her most open internal critics after exerting pressure on French authorities.
Compounding such problems was the defiance of many of the 27 member states as von der Leyen struggled to get anywhere close to gender parity on her Commission team — they staunchly refused to give her a choice between a male and a female candidate.
After days of secret talks with individual European governments about their picks, von der Leyen huddled with the leaders of the political groups at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, to discuss the makeup of her college.
Her full announcement was expected later Tuesday.
Even if the Commission's makeup has hardly become the talk of bar rooms or barber shops across the vast EU of 450 million people, it has enthralled the upper echelons of politics and bureaucracy, as they sought to boost one candidate or undermine another.
The Commission proposes legislation for the EU’s 27 member countries and ensures that the rules governing the world’s biggest trading bloc are respected. It’s made up of a College of Commissioners with a range of portfolios similar to those of government ministers, including agriculture, economic, competition, security and migration policy.
The Commission is to start work on Nov. 1, but speculation is rife that it might not get down to business before January.
A former German defense minister, von der Leyen has been pressing smaller countries to change their minds. In recent weeks, a man who was the preferred candidate of the government in Slovenia withdrew and a woman was proposed in his place.
She decides which country gets which portfolio, and some of them, like those involving trade or finance or EU enlargement, are coveted by certain countries. Plum jobs like the post of vice president — the commission has seven of these — are also much sought after.
FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, second right, speaks with from left, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi during a meeting of the College of Commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels, on June 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
