The fall in doping cases among Kenyan athletes in the first half of this year is welcome news. However, it is not a call to celebrations when Kenya is still in a precarious state and in Category A of nations where doping is prevalent.
Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK), Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the government and all stakeholders must not relent on the war against doping in sports until the country is removed from Category A where it has been since 2016.
It is through sustained government funding, regular out-of-competition testing and effective monitoring of athletes’ whereabouts that the doping cases will drop to save athletes from the rigorous Category A rules.
ADAK and the concerned authorities must now find a way of breaking the culture of silence that has proved a major hindrance in the war on doping through a trusted witness protection process.
There is mistrust within the system since athletes wishing to come out do not feel safe from the doping cartels.
ADAK acting chief executive officer Peninah Wahome revealed on Thursday that they suspended 29 athletes between January1, this year to June 30, this year from a pool of 2,331 athletes tested within that period.
This is a reduction as compared to the same period last year where ADAK suspended 36 from a field of 1,622 athletes that were tested the same period.
From the statistics, more male athletes (18) have violated the anti-doping regulations compared to 11 female athletes.
ADAK suspended 57 athletes between January 1 to December 31, 2025, a period where a total of 4,307 athletes were tested with the local testing body targeting at least 5,000 athletes this year.
It’s through improved funding from the government of up to 314m in the last two years that ADAK has been able to enhance athletes’ programs on the ground.
Enhanced intelligence based testing has helped close in on targets hence a major deterrent factor.
Testing Kenyan athletes based overseas through cooperation with foreign anti-doping agencies has been heightened besides the cooperation among ADAK, AIU and Athletics Kenya.
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