ADAK is reviewing doping cases, Rugut declares

The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) Chief Executive Officer, Japhter Rugut has announced on Thursday that most of the 43 cases of Kenyan athletes who have been suspended for doping violations are being reviewed.

However, the local anti-doping body boss confirmed they were not conducting an inquest into the highest profile case for the country -the Rita Jeptoo EPO bust- since that particular matter was in the hands of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and international governing body, IAAF.

“The case of Rita Jeptoo was done and concluded, she appealed in which case, Sample B was taken and thereafter, when she failed Sample B, then the decision is not on us, it’s WADA to give the final verdict.

“I believe you can follow that up with Athletics Kenya who are in contact with the IAAF who have been conducting that particular case,” Rugut said of the three-time Boston and two-time Chicago marathon champion who stunned the world when she was banned for using the proscribed blood booster in December 2014.

He did not give a timeline of when the reviews will be completed with ADAK that became legally operational on December 24 via a Cabinet Notice signed by President Uhuru Kenyatta tasked with compiling reports aimed at identifying the root cause of the menace that has brought the country on the brink of an international ban.

“The cases are constantly been reviewed. These are cases which are ongoing and results keep coming out for particular cases. There is no time limit to which a particular time can come out and in some cases, appeals are made,” he added.

Jeptoo who won back to back Boston and Chicago titles in 2013 and 2014 as well as Boston marathon in 2006 tested positive for the blood booster Erythropoietin after failing an out of competition test in September 2014 has become the poster girl of the doping problem in the country.

Jeptoo got a two year ban from all competitions that runs until October 2016 and was further denied her share of USD500,000 (Ksh50.727m) cash prize for winning the 2013/2014 majors, a suspension that has been appealed at the Court for Arbitration of Sport by the IAAF that views it as far too lenient for the offence committed.

Top AK officials namely; President Isaiah Kiplagat, Deputy president David Okeyo, former treasurer Joseph Kinyua and Chief Executive Officer, Isaac Mwangi were handed suspensions by the IAAF Ethics Board for involvement in alleged corruption and subverting the anti-doping process.

The reviews are necessary especially for athletes who allege AK officials handed them stiffer sentences after they failed to raise bribes such as in the cases of banned female sprinters, Joy Zakari Nakumincha and Francesca Koki Manunga who were handed four years for using banned diuretic, Furosemide at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing.

Before a mandatory four-year ban came operation in January this year, the federation had the discretion of handing lighter bans with Zakari and Koki claiming Mwangi asked them to part with Ksh2.5m each to have their suspension reduced.

The suspended CEO if following legal discourse against the claims he termed as a bid to tarnish his name as the Ethics Board through its locally appointed lawyer, Sharad Rao, investigates the allegations.

Report by Paul Kimani