President Uhuru Kenyatta signs Anti-Doping Amendment Bill into law

President Uhuru Kenyatta (centre) signs the earlier version of the Anti-Doping Bill into law at State House in Nairobi on April 22, 2016. PHOTO | PSCU  

By PSCU and TEA Reporter

In Summary

• This clears the way for the World Anti-Doping Agency to review Kenya’s compliance with its code.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday signed the 2016 Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill into law, clearing the way for the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) to review Kenya’s compliance with its code.

Wada's compliance committee had ruled that Kenya was "non-compliant" when its board met in Montreal, Canada, in May this year, citing issues related to the anti-doping legislation that had been hastily passed by Parliament in April.

“We look forward to Wada’s review and declaration of Kenya as compliant with existing rules,” said the president.

“Kenya has always supported clean sport and will continue to do so,” he added.

Kenya, an athletics giant, missed two Wada deadlines to show it is tackling cheating in sport. The country won 11 medals at the London 2012 Olympics and topped the table at the World Championships in Beijing last year with 16 medals.

But the country has become mired in doping and bribery allegations, with more than 40 athletes failing drugs tests since 2011. Wada placed it on a "watch list" of nations at risk of breaching its code and gave it until April 5 to comply.

On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said that competitors from Kenya and Russia will be screened individually before being allowed to participate in the Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August this year.

According to Mr Bach, the unsatisfactory record of the anti-doping agencies in both countries had put "very serious doubts on the presumption of innocence" of the competitors