The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) CEO Brett Clothier has warned that doping cases in the country could rise in the coming days owing to the government’s resolve to increase surveillance and testing.
Clothier, who has been in the country for a week-long visit, said the scaling of testing is a long-term initiative aimed at eliminating the doping scourge in the country.
The AIU boss spoke on Friday as the anti-doping steering committee handed its report to Sports Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke at the Ministry of Sports headquarters.
“What you will see in the coming months is big changes in the anti-doping landscape. There will be a lot of testing conducted by the Anti-doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK). Similarly, more resources will be channeled towards investigation and intelligence gathering and education.
“One thing that everyone should be aware of is that with more testing, more cases will be reported but that doesn’t mean more doping. That is what is coming but it is the pathway to address this problem once and for all,” said Clothier.
Clothier is among the eight members of the anti-doping steering committee that was formulated by Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba to combat the doping crisis.
The committee also consists of officials from Athletics Kenya, ADAK and the Ministry of Sports.
Earlier in the week, Clothier interacted with Kenyan athletes during his tour of the athletics-rich North Rift region- Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet and Nandi counties.
While Kenya still remains in category A of World Athletics watch list, Mueke reiterated that the government will not relent on the fight to stem out the vice in the country.
“Doping will be a thing of the past in Kenya. We are committed as a government because this is a matter of National strategic interest to ensure that all our athletes continue flying our flag high around the world by running clean.
We have the talent, potential, passion and indeed we are a sporting nation and we want to keep our reputation out there in the global community of countries by always running clean.” Mueke said.
On his part, AK president Jackson Tuwei said since the committee was constituted last year, it has moved with speed to set up structures to clean the house.
“In terms of investigations and intelligence collections all those departments have been set up. We came to present the report today to the Cabinet secretary. We already presented the budget to the government and it has been approved. As soon as everything is done we go into the implementation phase,” said Tuwei.
