Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has said the ministry is ready to deal with doping agencies in the country.

Recently, a number of Kenyan athletes were banned or suspended after they were found guilty of using banned substances. Namwamba promised that the perpetrators of the doping cases will be dealt with.

Criminals warned

“When I took office seven months ago, Kenya was actually on the verge of being banned by World Athletics for the unacceptably high number of cases. I had to move with haste to engage.

“And for the criminal syndicate facilitating this vile practice, we are coming down on you like a brick wall. We will not allow a few criminal elements to soil Kenya’s proud sporting pedigree and heritage,” Namwamba told a local publication.

After cases of doping became rather rampant, Kenya was facing a ban, but Namwamba revealed what was agreed to avoid such a punishment. According to the CS, millions of shillings were also set aside to confront the doping menace.

“World Athletics President, Lord Sebastian Coe, also visited Kenya in January. To forestall the ban, we agreed on a comprehensive plan to confront the doping menace. I hosted a national multi-agency stakeholder forum last November, where the plan was developed.

“We committed US$5 million (KSh700 million) annually for the next five years to bankroll this plan, whose implementation we have handed over to a multi-agency team led by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya, working closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athletics Integrity Unit. We are on track. This is a war we must win,” he added.

Suspended athletes

Rhonex Kipruto was the latest Kenyan to be banned by Athletic Integrity United after doping. Initially, Zena Jemutai was among 20 athletes that were suspended by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK).

Diana Kipyokei was disqualified as the 2021 Boston Marathon women’s winner after she was given a six-year ban for using triamcinolone acetonide, a banned substance. The 2017 Paris Marathon winner, Purity Rionoripo, was banned for five years after testing positive for the diuretic furosemide.

While naming Kenya’s legendary athletes, the former Budalangi Member of Parliament insisted that the country’s image has to be protected from individuals who are out to tarnish it.

“Kenya has established a longstanding heritage of competing and winning clean, from Wilson Kiprugut Chumo, winner of Kenya’s first-ever Olympics medal (bronze at the Tokyo games in 1964), to Kipchoge Keino, Paul Tergat, Catherine Ndereba, John Ngugi, Wilfred Bungei, and David Rudish, the list is endless.

“Our current stars like Faith Kipyegon, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, and Ferdinand Omanyala are continuing to demonstrate that we have what it takes to win clean.

“Athletics is the jewel in Kenya’s sporting crown. I applaud all our greats, both past and present, for maintaining our nation’s incredible world-conquering heritage, the latest being the mind-blowing heroics of Faith Kipyegon in Florence, Italy, and Paris, France,” he added.

Paris Olympic Games

For next year’s Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, Namwamba stressed that the Ministry will ensure the athletes will be accorded top-level preparations, unlike in the past.

“To avoid pitfalls that have afflicted Team Kenya at key global events, this time we are on top of things with timely planning. I tasked the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) to get me a roadmap and budget, which they duly did.

“Three weeks ago we retreated to discuss the details, and today I can confidently tell Kenyans that our Roadmap to Paris 2024 is ready, and shortly I will be naming the team that will lead the country to Paris,” he concluded.