NAIROBI, Kenya, February 25, 2026 – Kenyan fencer Alexandra Ndolo has once again decried the lack of funding from the Kenya Fencing Federation to enable her to participate in international competitions.
The German-born fencer questioned whether the lack of funding is due to her being a half Kenyan and half white.
“Am I not being financed maybe because I’m only half Kenyan or maybe because I’m half Mzungu (white) or maybe because I don’t live and train in Kenya?” Ndolo said.
The 39-year-old further said she would love to live and train in Kenya but for lack of world class facilities in the country, necessitating her stay in Europe and Asia.
She also said it would allow her to compete regularly against the best-of-the-best in the world.
“Believe me, I would love to live in Kenya but unfortunately the best in the world don’t train in Kenya at the moment and in order to keep my high level I need to train amongst them. So, I need to live in Europe, the US or Asia. Hopefully I can get some answers soon because I want to compete for Kenya,” she said.
Daughter of a Kenyan father and a Polish mother, Ndolo switched allegiance to her fatherland in 2022, having previously represented Germany.
She then won the individual epee title at the 2023 Africa Fencing Championships in Cairo, Egypt before successfully defending her crown at the next edition in Casablanca, Morocco, a year later.
Ndolo made history as the first Kenyan fencer at the Olympics, competing in Paris in 2024, where she exited in the first round.
Pain of a Kenyan sportsperson
For all the glory and reputation brought to Kenya, she has been engaged in back-and-forth with KFF who she has accused of lack of transparency and not supporting her to compete at international events.
In September last year, she filed a case at the High Court to compel the federation to produce their audited financial statements from 2021 to 2025.
She also sought to have KFF reimburse her for the expenses incurred in representing the country at international events.
That case came a year after Ndolo had lodged a complaint with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over KFF’s failure to reimburse her Ksh 270,000 she had spent to represent the country.
She also filed another complaint with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Ndolo says she has always played her part by handing in her budget beforehand.
“I still love flying our flag high but unfortunately in those almost four seasons now not a single competition has been financed by the Kenyan Fencing Federation. So, I’m wondering why is there no budget for me? Because I’ve handed in budget plans beforehand and I’ve handed in receipts afterwards and the answer was always there is no budget,” she said.
Ndolo added: “That’s kind of hard to believe because as I said I’ve been doing this for almost four seasons and I’ve seen other athletes being financed to go to competitions. It is difficult for me to believe that there are absolutely no budgets or there were no budgets to support at least one competition that I could go to and fence internationally.”
Still in love with Kenya
Her tribulations notwithstanding, Ndolo says she is still determined to put Kenya on the fencing map.
“I want to keep competing for Kenya on the highest level. I want to represent us at the LA 2028 Olympics and I want to win more African championship medals, gold medals if I can. I want to win other international medals but for this I need to train and I need to travel and I need to compete and all of this I cannot do on my own,” she said.
This year, she has eight international competitions lined up, for which she is hoping to prepare adequately and play in.
“I want to win other international medals but for this I need to train and I need to travel and I need to compete and all of this I cannot do on my own. I have eight international competitions plus African Championships plus World Championships every season and I need to attend them,” Ndolo said.
She added: “Hopefully I can get some answers soon because I want to compete for Kenya. I want to keep competing for Kenya on the highest level.”
