Kenya Tong-IL Moo Do Pleads for President’s Intervention to Save Mombasa 12th Championship 

By Harrison Kivisu 

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

Kenya Tong Il Moo Do Federation (KTMDF) is appealing to President William Ruto to intervene and save 12th edition of the Mombasa Open Tong-IL Moo Do international martial arts championship event from collapsing.

The federation’s assistant secretary general Elvis Malipe said already by December 15, 2024 four countries of India, Uganda, Japan, and Paraguay had arrived in the country for the global competition that was yet to kick off because of government’s delayed funds.

“This is because the ministry of sports has failed to release sponsorship for the event with already some of the foreign participants having arrived in the country.”

The event was initially scheduled for August this year, but had to be postponed after the ministry failed to provide funding.

The same predicament is still bedevilling the reschedule December championship threatening not only to kill sport and talents, but also leave Kenya slapped with penalties for failing to hold the global event.

The federation called on President Ruto to intervene and rescue the tournament from imminent collapse if not held as rescheduled.

“Right now, our only hope is the President. We are pleading with him to intervene and direct the Ministry of Sports to release the funds needed for the championships to happen,” Malipe said during the Sunday media briefing.

The event was supposed to kick off on Sunday (December 15, 2024) at the Aga Khan Academy in the Port City of Mombasa, but failed due to non-remittal of finds to facilitate the event.

The tournament is open to all styles and martial arts federations from all countries and runs under the auspices of ‘martial arts federation for world peace’.

According to the federation the championship was supposed to kick off on Sunday if the government through the ministry of sports had released the required funds.

The secretary said it was the second time that the much anticipated championships failed to start at the Port City because of the same reasons.

The federation has been lobbying for funds disbursement in the run up to the tournament to no avail.

With the arrivals of Japan, India, Paraguay, Uganda and more to come, this puts the Kenya federation in an awkward position on what to do if the government fails to provided the urgently needed funds.

He expressed concern that might cause KTMDF risks of hefty fines and ban from its parent, World Tong Il Moo Do Federation, if it failed to honour and host this year’s competition.

“As we speak we are on the verge of being banned by the World Tong Il Moo Do Federation due to failure to host the championships for the second time in a row,” he said.

According to him the government has been the key financier of the championships and that they are now demoralised by the inordinate delay in funding that has cast a dark shadow on Kenya’s image globally.

“As Tong-IL Moo-Do fraternity we feel our rights are being violated by bureaucratic and funding delays and we appeal to President Ruto to intervene and salvage the situation,” he pleaded.

He said it was “only the President” who could resolve the issue and make things happened before visiting countries begin showing their frustrations over a delayed championship.

“Please, Mr President, intervene and help resolve the impasse we have with the ministry of sports officials and enable the championships to continue as planned.”

He also called on sport enthusiasts and Kenyans in general to rally behind KTMD and save the tournament from being sabotaged saying the national team “Jasiri” was second in the World Tong-IL Moo-Do Federation ranking.

“The team is composed of multi-talented players of genders, young kids and adults and have been winning medals in all international assignments since 2006.”

Carlos Nuñez the President of the Paraguayan Federation of Tong-Il Moo-Do who arrived on Sunday in Mombasa for the championship expressed hope for a last minute miracle.

According to him the Paraguay team in Mombasa has a clear goal of defending their podiums achieved in 2023.

Nuñez who is a gold medalist athlete in the Tong Il Moo Do World Cup in 2022 said they were worried the championship might not kick off as rescheduled and planned.

Salma Abdalla, a member of the Kenya team ‘Ujasiri’ noted that the sport was a self-defense practice that could also taught discipline and self-control to young people. 

She said Kenya was the defending champions, having clinched 46 gold, 54 silver and 93 bronze at last year’s competition at the Aga Khan Hall.

The member added that with the high cases of femicide being recorded in the country it was time more women embraced the sport for self defense.

“Tong-Il Moo-Do is a Korean martial art that combines techniques from karate, taekwondo, tai chi, aikido, and judo that focuses on the unification of all martial arts.”