Ogwang made the revelation on Tuesday as Parliament paid tribute to the deceased long-distance runner who succumbed to injuries due to arson attack by former partner, Ndiema.
The State Minister for Sports, Peter Ogwang has revealed that Dickson Ndiema, the former partner of deceased Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, had demanded all the properties she had bought be written in his names.
Ogwang made the revelation on Tuesday as Parliament paid tribute to the deceased long-distance runner who succumbed to injuries due to arson attack by former partner, Ndiema.
Cheptegei, died on September 4, 2024 at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret Kenya, and was laid to rest in Bukwo district over the weekend.
While presenting a motion to pay tribute to Cheptegei, Minister Ogwang explained that she had confided in him that Ndiema had wanted to control all her earnings and properties, which resulted into a disagreement.
The disagreement is believed to have led to her mudder.
“The whole issue that led to Rebecca’s death, my daughter (Rebecca) had confided in me, she had bought property,” Ogwang said.
“Unfortunately, the boyfriend wasn’t comfortable with the topic of the development of her property. The man wanted the property to be put in his name. The late (Ndiema) wanted that the bank account should be put in the shared names.”
He described Cheptegei as an athlete of distinguished talent and skills, who had a strong work ethics, confidence and professionalism, commitment to her sports and patriotism set international and local records.
“Her illustrious career in sports complemented Government efforts to change the narrative about Uganda internationally, indeed she is among the athletes, the unsung heroes of our nation, who have heeded to the call of duty, to not only rise the Ugandan flag through sports at international level but also to inspire our youths, and the generations to live a purposeful, driven life,” Ogwang noted.
Ogwang, denounced bad cultural practices including domestic biilence and urged men to stop men to stop forceful ownership of their wives’ properties and money.
“We must denounce domestic violence because truth be told, what killed our daughter was on the issue of property,” he said.
“Because she has been running and winning, some of us still believe we have ownership of the monies of our wives. To us men, can we accept to work hard so that what belongs to us is ours and what belongs to our wives is for them.”
Meanwhile, Ogwang revealed plans to hold meetings with families and partners of Ugandan elite athletes, especially the females, regarding the dangers of gender based violence.
“Rebecca is gone, but the message must live to help us address other emerging challenges amongst the population today. Same challenges happen with others. I am going back to meet families of these elite athletes especially ladies to begin addressing some of these challenges amongst them with their spouses and their family members,” Ogwang noted.
Ogwang’s revelation was in response to the concerns raided by the Deputy Speaker, over reports that the partners of Ugandan female athletes had made it a habbit to confiscate the ATM cards of the female Uganda athletes.
“We sit on a lot. You might find that there are some of our colleagues who go through that, especially females, but also some men. There is something I read that some of these athletes, their ATM cards are with their boyfriends,” Tayebwa said.
Ogwang responded, “It is true these things exist. That is the reason I have given a big statement saying, we must denounce bad cultural practices which still exist. In some of our communities and neighboring countries, they still believe that property, money, it should all be held by men,”
He added, “I know of one case, where one of our national athletes came to me and cried to me, that I talk to the husband, I called the husband, his father and his mother, I sat with them in my office and today, that daughter of mine is peaceful and doing a commendable job.”
According to the minister, Cheptegei is survived by two biological children and one adopted daughter.