Senate majority leader Aron Cheruiyot is advocating for the amendment to the Anti-Doping Act 2016 which created the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya.
The Kericho senator said the Act was passed in a rush as the country sought to avoid punishment from the international sports association for suspected systematic Anti-Doping Rule Violations.
Cheruiyot said they have received complaints from various stakeholders, including athletes.
“The new Cabinet Secretary for Sports Ababu Namwamba should organise a conference to listen to the lamentations from the athletes in regard to how Adak go about their mandate," said Cheruiyot.
"We cannot just blame the athletes and the agents. ADAK has also some share of it to blame. We must reform them.”
If such amendments are proposed, Cheruiyot said: “We will very quickly fast track them to ensure that our athletes are comfortable and do not find themselves in avoidable situations."
Cheruiyot poked holes into the Adak system of testing, claiming there have been false positive and negative results.
"When tested locally, athletes are given a negative result, while abroad, they receive positive results," he alleged. "We want to know if this is true and if so, establish how it happens and if some individuals are responsible."
"But we cannot just sit back and blame the whole organisation (Adak). I believe there are decent people in there. Once we have such conservations, with the athletes, agents and Adak, we should be able to find out what should happen next,” added Cheruiyot.
He observed that the rampant cases have put a blot in Adak's operations and aroused doubts over their capacity.
Cheruiyot added they will also look into whether Adak are underfunded as widely claimed and if so, how they will navigate in ensuring adequate funding.
“The agency has to tell Kenyans their success, challenges and how they can overcome them. If underfunding is an issue, then we need to have that conversation and, if need, find ways to provide them with enough resources to do their job well. It is their duty to even go after agents alleged to be misleading our young athletes,” he said.
