Deal with Kenya’s doping problem

Yet again, another Kenyan athlete has tested positive for a banned substance, and this coming only two months before the country hosts the IAAF World Under-18 Championships. Olympic marathon champion Jemimah Sumgong’s positive test for Erythropoietin (EPO) is disappointing and even distressing for many of the athletes preparing for this premier event.

The country has doggedly tried to emerge from a cloud, particularly before last year’s Olympic Games when many of its athletes were stripped of race titles for numerous doping violations. It was at about this time that Kenya was facing a ban for failing to enact anti-doping legislation.

Obviously it will take a long time before the stiffer sentences spelt out in this new anti-doping law can begin to act as a deterrent, particularly because it criminalises doping violations.

What is clear, however, is that the country cannot continue to bury its head in the sand. Kenyans must accept that there is a doping problem that is not going to go away unless it is confronted and dealt with.

If this problem is not dealt with, then the success of Kenyan athletes will always be viewed with suspicion.

And so, even as the country deals with a few rotten apples, it must also deal with the elephant in the room — the officials, agents and athletes who work behind the scenes to ensure doping and cheating thrives.