This archive report was first published on 24 July 2019.
Published on July 24, 2019, Kenya's Athletics Federation, Athletics Kenya (AK), has urged the government to join forces in the fight against doping by making it a criminal offense.
Kenya's alarming rise in doping cases has seen the country rank third globally, prompting AK President Jack Tuwei to reach out to Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to push for stricter anti-doping laws.
Tuwei appealed to Amina to help facilitate government procedures to criminalize doping, stating, "We are appealing to you to help us in the government procedures to ensure that doping is criminalised in order to end this menace."
Amina responded by promising to rally her cabinet colleagues to push Parliament to pass laws criminalizing doping, saying, "Doping will be minimal, we need put it to the bare minimum, and we need to construct firewalls by monitoring, evaluating and guiding the process of ensuring it is eradicated and ensure the integrity in the system."
This is not the first time Kenya has sought to make doping a criminal offense, as former MP and athlete Wesley Korir had introduced a bill to that effect in Parliament, but it was rejected. However, Parliament later passed the Kenya Anti-Doping Act.
Notably, high-profile Kenyan athletes such as Asbel Kiprop and Jemima Sumgong are currently serving doping-related violations.
