Kenyan anti-doping programme halted by budget cuts

ADAK board chairman Daniel Makdwallo. [Stafford Ondego]

Kenyan athletics’ battle against doping has suffered a serious blow which could result in it being banned from international competitions due to budget cuts that have halted all testing, its anti-doping agency said yesterday.

The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya says it was allocated only 20 million shillings ($5,400) to run day-to-day programmes for the financial year starting in July -- far below the expected 288 million shillings ($1,457,000).

The programme was one of the victims of large-scale budget cuts imposed by the government after it was forced to scrap a tax bill that triggered massive protests in June.

“This move has grounded the agency, and we are not able to fulfil our obligations, hence risking non-compliance to the World Anti-Doping Code,” ADAK board chief Daniel Makdwallo told reporters in Nairobi.

“I urge the national treasury to reconsider this funding gap and reinstate the budget for the agency in order to protect Kenyan athletes.”

Kenya has invested massively to clean up its image after a string of doping scandals around the 2016 Rio Olympics led to it being declared non-compliant by WADA.

It created its revamped anti-doping agency that year, and it has shown its teeth, sanctioning 78 athletes in the last three years alone.