Athlete Agnes Tirop’s family, activists protest in court as murder trial stalls again over missing prime suspect
Vincent Tirop (left), father of the late international athlete Agnes Tirop addresses the media alongside human rights activists outside the Eldoret High Court in Uasin Gishu County on June 12, 2025. The group decried repeated adjournments in the murder case against Tirop’s estranged husband, Ibrahim Rotich, who went missing after skipping multiple court appearances.
What you need to know:
- Ms Tirop was found dead at her Iten town home on October 13, 2021, and her body had stabbing wounds.
- Until her demise, Ms Tirop was a double World 10,000m bronze medallist, the 2015 World Cross Country champion, and finished fourth in the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics.
The High Court in Eldoret witnessed dramatic scenes on Thursday, with the family of the late world-celebrated athlete, Agnes Tirop, and human rights activists staging protests over the adjournment of her murder case after the prime suspect went missing.
Mr Ibrahim Rotich, the estranged husband of the late international long-distance runner and two-time World 10,000 metres bronze medallist, was charged with her murder, but has been missing court hearings for the last four months, forcing adjournments.
Mr Rotich, who was out on bail, started skipping sessions in February, prompting the court to issue a warrant for his arrest in March. Since then, the court has been adjourning the hearing of the case.
At the court session on Thursday, the family and rights activists caused drama after Presiding Judge, Robert Wananda, adjourned the case for the fourth time.
Investigating Officer Corporal Philip Ndeto informed the court that the matter could not proceed since the prime suspect was nowhere to be found.
Upon the judge’s pronouncement, the court was turned into a demonstration ground, with the crowd donning white t-shirts and waving placards bearing pictures of the late runner, breaking into protest chants.
Efforts by the judge to calm the situation were futile, as the courtroom-turned-demonstration scene was filled with anti-government chants, forcing him to suspend pending cases.
“Allow this court to proceed with other matters scheduled for today,” Justice Wananda had pleaded, without success.
Mr Ndeto had informed the court that the accused was still on the run, but police were optimistic they would re-arrest him.
Human Rights activists protest inside the Eldoret High Court in Uasin Gishu County on June 12, 2025. The group was demanding that the government produce Rotich, who has missed several court appearances. A warrant of arrest had been issued after his failure to appear.
“We ask that you grant us one month to locate the accused person. We have been tipped on his whereabouts, but we cannot disclose this information at this point,” said Corporal Ndeto.
But activists, led by Centre Against Torture’s Kimutai Kurui, faulted the court for releasing the accused on bail despite caution from the prosecution office that he was a flight risk.
“The court is corrupt. Why did you release him, yet you were warned by ODPP that he was a flight risk? The government must produce the suspect in court,” the activist said.
The investigating officer had earlier told the court that officers involved in the operation to re-arrest the suspect were facing challenges in tracing him, as he had switched off his mobile phone.
Justice Wananda directed that the matter be mentioned on July 23, when the court will be informed about the whereabouts of the accused person.
Human Rights activists protest inside the Eldoret High Court in Uasin Gishu County on June 12, 2025. The group was demanding that the government produce Rotich, who has missed several court appearances. A warrant of arrest had been issued after his failure to appear.
“I will allow one month as requested by the Investigating Officer, and we hope they will have arrested and availed the accused person in court,” ruled the Judge.
Ms Tirop was found dead at her Iten town home on October 13, 2021, and her body had stabbing wounds.
Until her demise, Ms Tirop was a double World 10,000m bronze medallist, the 2015 World Cross Country champion, and finished fourth in the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics.
Her estranged husband, turned prime suspect, was arrested in October 2021 over her killing and arraigned in court, but denied the charge.
The court had initially denied him bail four times following objections by the prosecution, which cited flight risk and his safety as reasons.
Later, Justice Wananda ruled that there were no compelling reasons to continue detaining him and released him on bail.
"For the past two years, the accused has been detained in prison and remanded in connection with the murder of his wife; this has been enough time to ascertain his character and the environment outside the prison if released. Things have cooled and there appears not to be any danger to his life," Justice Wananda had said in a previous ruling.
Consequently, Mr Rotich was released on a Sh400,000 bond, with an alternative of a Sh500,000 cash bail.
Under the bail conditions, Mr Rotich was barred from leaving his Uasin Gishu home county and from visiting Iten Town in Elgeyo Marakwet. He was also ordered not to interfere with witnesses.