•The proposed law was passed by the National Assembly a week ago before it was sent to the senate for concurrence.
•The Bill seeks to harmonise the Anti-Doping Act of 2016 with the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code and Regulations to which Kenya is a party to.
Senators on Tuesday approved the anti-doping law to ensure that Kenyan athletes participate in international championships, including the Olympics, next year.
All the 28 senators who attended the special hybrid sitting (physical and virtual) voted to approve the Amendment Bill, 2020 to enable Kenya to comply with the world 2021 anti-doping code.
Kenya had until December 31 to enact the law to comply with the Unesco convention against doping.
The Bill, which awaits the President’s signature to become law, criminalizes doping and puts in place an enhanced result management system for anti-doping in sports by categorizing it as a criminal offense whose penalty is imprisonment.
It also seeks to harmonize the Anti-Doping Act of 2016 with the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code and Regulations to which Kenya is a party.
The proposed law was passed by the National Assembly a week ago before it was sent to the Senate for concurrence.
Kenya ratified the convention against anti-doping in sports in 2009, making it a member state thus bound to international regulations on anti-doping.
“If we don’t adopt these new codes, that have been added, Kenya is likely to be barred and banned from participating in athlete’s world from next year,”Kisii senator Sam Ongeri said.
Ongeri chaired the athletics Kenya for 10 years between 1974 and 1984.
This year, the convention introduced two new codes – the International Education standards and the international standard for results management – to put in place an enhanced result management system for anti-doping to eradicate the vice.
The first World Anti-Doping Code was adopted in 2004. It was amended and a new one adopted in 2009.
The current code was ratified in 2015 and is due to be replaced by the 2021 code which will become operational on January 1, 2021.
“This is a very important bill. It seeks to harmonize anti-dipping legislation of 2016 with the current developments in the world of sport,” Bungoma senator Moses Wetangula said.
He said many times, athletes have fallen victim to situations beyond their control and have had rouge counties helping their sportsmen and women to gain superiority in sports.
He said many young, talented and innocent Kenyan athletes have seen their careers crumble because of rogue agents who introduce them to performance-enhancing drugs.
“In between, we have people we call agents. These are the people who go around the country, scouting for young talents, but if you look at their history, infant, most of the monies they get-go to these agents. They should be punished‚” he said.
He said such agents should be prosecuted and imprisoned.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris