The Consistent Soldier, Charles Asati

In the sports arena, Kenya is best known for its dominance in long distance races. But in the 1970s a soldier of the Kenya Army did dominate the short distance track events. Little is known of him today, but Charles Asati, born 3rd March 1946 in the Kenyan town of Kisii, did Kenya proud at the age of 26. A soldier with humble beginnings, Asati attained Primary School Education but never went to Secondary School. He was a keen sportsman, who besides athletics, played rugby, tennis and volleyball at an amateur level. During the 1968 Summer Olympics, Charles Asati made it to the quarterfinals of the 200 metres and was part of the Kenyan 4×400 metre relay team, which took the silver medal during the finals with a time of 2:59.60. In 1970, at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, he ran 45.00 seconds in the 400 meters to clinch the gold for Kenya. In the 1972 Olympics he was again part of the 4x400 men’s relay team, and this time won the gold. In 1974 at the Commonwealth games at Christchurch he ran 46.04 seconds to win the Gold medal again in the 400 meters final. For his achievements in athletics, he was presented with the Guinness Stout Award. He is arguably the most consistent runner that Kenya has ever had at short distance races. Kenya's renowned photojournalist Mohamed Amin, also known as 'Six Camera Mo' was best known as a great frontline photojournalist, but he spent more time documenting his country’s beauty, wildlife, culture, people and leaders than anything else. Mo managed to use his cameras for more than a generation to bring East Africa’s most powerful stories into world view.