Montreal WADA meeting to decide Kenyas fate

Montreal WADA meeting to decide Kenyas fate

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) compliance review committee will meet in Montreal later Tuesday and is expected to recommend Kenya is declared non-compliant, paving the way to a possible ban from international competition, including the forthcoming Rio 2016 Olympics.

The country is all set to miss a second WADA ban that expires in a few hours although the country’s authorities are banking on the hopes efforts made to fast track the Anti-Doping Bill of 2016 in Parliament and Government’s Ksh500m (USD4,930,330.00) funding of the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) will persuade the review committee to grant another extension.

Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Arts and Culture, Dr. Hassan Wario has termed fears that Kenya’s team, including her celebrated track and field athletes, will be banned from the August Summer Games in Brazil as a ‘creation of the media.’

He has pointed out the heavy involvement of WADA in the drafting of the law whose seventh draft is being discussed in Parliament, the country’s bureaucratic legislation making process enshrined in the Constitution of 2010 that requires among other things, involvement of public input and laws governing formation of parastatals as the bottlenecks that delayed enactment of the law.

“For example, Kenyan law states a parastatal such as ADAK can only be managed by a board while WADA wanted it to be run by an individual who is sorely accountable,” Wario stated in February when concerns of meeting the extended deadline surfaced.

Kenya’s path to compliance also saw the battle of supremacy between the Executive and Legislative arms of Government clash with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Justin Muturi, initially clearing a parallel anti-doping law sponsored by Cherangany MP and 2012 Boston Marathon champion, Wesley Korir for debate.

Parliament’s Departmental Committee for Labour, Social Welfare and Sports then approved his bill to be brought to the floor of the house only for Muturi to announce the Government backed proposal would go through the first reading last week.

The Anti-Doping Bill 2016 criminalises doping and gives ADAK the legal force to operate had its first reading in Parliament last Wednesday with the Leader of Majority in the National Assembly, Adan Duale, saying at the time it would take at least 20 days to push it through the stages required before presenting it to the President to be signed into law.

Information on WADA’s website wada-ama.org spells out the requirements for an organisation; in Kenya’s case ADAK requires being compliant.

Step 1: Acceptance

Agree to the principles of the Code and agree to implement and comply with the Code.

Step 2: Implementation

Amend organization rules and policies to include the mandatory articles and principles of the Code.

Step 3: Enforcement

Enforce amended organizations’ rules and policies in accordance with the Code.

And what is the Code?

Compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code (Code)—the document harmonizing regulations regarding anti-doping in all sports and all countries—is the situation in which an anti-doping organization (ADO)—an International Sport Federation (IF), a National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO), a Major Games Organizer, etc.—finds itself after completing a three-step process in relation to the Code. 

Firstly, ADO must accept the Code. By doing this, it agrees to the principles of the Code and agrees to implement and comply with the Code. Secondly, the ADO must implement the Code by amending its rules and policies to include mandatory articles and principles of the Code. These anti-doping rules must be submitted to WADA for review, in order for the rules to be pronounced in line with the Code. Lastly, the ADO must enforce its amended rules and policies in accordance with the Code.

The key objective of such harmony is for all athletes to benefit from strong and fair anti-doping policies and protections, that are the same for all, no matter the sport, the nationality or the country where tested.

These are the members of the review committee listed on the website who will discuss Kenya’s fate in Montreal.

René Bouchard (Chair)/Canada

Tom Dielen/Belgium

Henry Gourdji/ Canada/France/Israel

Barbara Leishman/Switzerland/UK

Beckie Scott/Canada

Bente Skovgaard Kristensen/Denmark

Tags:

kenya doping ADAK WADA World Anti-Doping Agency Dr. Hassan Wario René Bouchard

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