In 2005, aged 23, Inzikuru became the first woman to win the 3,000 metres steeplechase gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland. She followed this up with success in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, held in New Delhi, India.
However, despite a decorated athletics career that made Inzikuru a household name, even in retirement she just has not stopped ‘running’, to secure a good life. In recent times, Inzikuru has been running up and down the steps of parliament, ministry of Education and Sports, and the ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
This was all in effort to save her house in Arua. Back in 2005, following her success on track, Inzikuru received a gift of a new house from the state on the directive of President Yoweri Museveni. Yet, despite living in this house since 2007, its long-term existence remains under threat, something Inzikuru hopes government, which gave her the house, will prevent.
Inzikuru told The Observer in a recent interview that she was told that a planned estate road will run through her property to serve the community, and this would mean breaking down her house, a possibility she just cannot fathom.
When Inzikuru received this house more than 10 years ago, she was never handed a land title for the land on which it sat, as a mark of ownership. She is hoping that finally, a land title for that piece of land can also be secured, after pursuing it for the last five years without any positive results.
“Right now, I am chasing a freehold title, and not this business of a 49 or 99-year lease. I am hoping I will be successful soon,” Inzikuru said.
However, the track queen is also distressed by the fact that since 2017, she has not received her monthly stipend.
She explained: “In 2012, following the success of Stephen Kiprotich at the London Olympics, the president promised to give sports personalities a monthly stipend to live off.” Her last remittance came in 2017, with no further explanation.
Yet, despite the lack thereof, Inzikuru still looks fresh and bubbly; her infectious smile has never deserted her. While the stipend was still coming in, she was assured of Shs 5m every month; with it, Inzikuru was able to take her mother for a successful medical surgery in 2014. But without that money, one can only imagine how stretched Inzikuru feels, as far as her needs and subsistence are concerned.
“Well, I have been assured that all will be sorted after the 2021/22 budget has been read. So, I wait in earnest,” she said.
WHAT SHE IS UP TO
That said, the tough circumstances have not deterred Inzikuru from aspiring. She runs a sports academy known as the Inzikuru Sports Academy in Bulange, Mengo.
The venture gives opportunities for up and coming athletes to explore their talents in different disciplines like football, volleyball, track and field, among others. In addition, the setup also provides health and fitness services, plus aerobics.
Inzikuru has always harboured ideas of making this project into some gigantic sports investment. In 2017, she found 10 acres of land in Bombo, perfect for a sports school that would also provide the conventional educational syllabus.
Unfortunately, it was at that time that her stipend stopped coming in, hence foiling her dreams. The owner of the land eventually sold it to another buyer. By simple calculation, if Inzikuru had received all her stipends since 2017, she would have had at least Shs 240 million today.
Add the previous years, when the stipends were irregular, and it would probably be at least Shs 400 million. Notably, Inzikuru, now a mother and looking curvier than her professional-runner days, remains keen on seeing Uganda get more medals in the track and field international meets, particularly at the 2020 Olympics, which were postponed to take place at the end of July 2021.
Due to her passion, she has been part of the Uganda Athletics Federation’s scouting team. But also, during the national trials earlier this year from which a host of athletes have been qualifying for the Olympics and Africa championships, Inzikuru has been ever present at Namboole as a track official.
She says she is keen to share her experience with the younger athletes, and hopefully she can inspire a few to golden glory. Since Inzikuru’s glorious years on the track, she has perfected her driving skills, hoping that someday the car she was promised by the government more than 10 years ago will come.
Her colleagues Stephen Kiprotich, Joshua Cheptegei and Stella Chesang have since received theirs despite their successes coming after Inzikuru’s. She continues to dream.
On top of that, because of her can-do attitude, Inzikuru has also learnt how to ride a motorcycle, which makes her prospects of competing in the “MotoGP” someday not a far-fetched dream. That would be something; watching the Arua Gazelle fly with her bike at a motocross event!
At the moment, however, Inzikuru still has her sights on at least one more running saloon. She told The Observer that she has never truly retired and she is trying to get her body in the perfect physical shape for a couple of more international races.
But at 39, pundits do not believe she can make another mark on the track. When Inzikuru competed at the 2012 Olympics in London, she finished seventh in her heat in the 3000 metres steeplechase race.
Her performance was not good enough to get her into the semifinals. Critics suggest that Inzikuru botched up her running career when she decided to get married and start a family back in 2008 aged 26 – her running prime.
Having to focus on her marriage and raising a child affected Inzikuru’s form. While she has a daughter, Emmanuela Munguci, from that marriage, the union to Martin Acidri did not work out. They divorced in 2012, and worse still, Acidri passed away in 2013.
Inzikuru’s daughter completed her Primary Leaving Examinations earlier this year and the once-famous runner appears to have moved on from her failed and tragic marriage.
She met someone new and became a mother again, and now nurses a two-year-old toddler. Inzikuru is remembered as such a free and happy soul even at the height of her short career; she has not lost that. She is always joyful and lively, carrying her broad grin everywhere she goes. She insists on keeping her family and relationship private.
For now, she is hoping and praying that the government and country whose flag she once waved proudly and triumphantly at international meets, has not given up on her. She has hope that the promises made to her will be kept and that her house will be saved from demolition.
And 39 or what, Inzikuru believes she has at least one more gold medal to bring home.
jovi@observer.ug
