World Athletics President Sebastian Coe is satisfied with Kenya's strides in tackling doping over the past two years, praising the government's commitment to clean sport.
With a Sh 646 million annual investment dedicated to anti-doping efforts, Kenya has reinforced their stance against the vice, a move Coe believes is yielding results.
During a courtesy call on Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya, Coe acknowledged the country's progress, attributing much of the success to the government's sustained efforts.
“The country has made good progress in the past two years. The funding from the Kenyan government has been extremely helpful in the fight,” Coe said.
He highlighted the crucial role of the AIU's (Athletics Integrity Unit) permanent officer stationed in Kenya, a move aimed at ensuring strict monitoring and compliance.
“I know the AIU, a department within World Athletics, is satisfied by the progress that is being made by the country in fighting doping. There is a permanent I officer in the country who's engaged with Athletics Kenya. The work between the two organisations is strong as it should be,” Coe noted.
Beyond doping, Coe stressed the importance of leveraging sports to combat gender-based violence, a challenge he acknowledged extends beyond athletics.
“The second key area and the very prominent challenge is gender-based violence, not entirely or uniquely linked to sport, but recognising that we can use sport as a way of raising the profile of this challenge,” he said.
Mvurya reaffirmed the government's commitment to upholding integrity in sports and strengthening anti-doping initiatives.
“The government of Kenya is committed to ensuring that we continue to strengthen our resolve to have athletes participate in competitions with a lot of integrity,” he said.
He reiterated the government's sustained investment in anti-doping, underlining the annual funding for athlete education, testing and investigations.
“We have remained committed to ensuring that we avail resources every year to strengthen sensitisation, testing and investigations and making sure that we create awareness for compliance for every athlete,” he added.
Mvurya outlined steps taken to address gender-based violence in sports, including the establishment of a dedicated secretariat headed by Chief Executive Diana Watila.
“The government has rolled out gender-based violence efforts in sports. We have a secretariat headed by a CEO who has made a lot of progress,” Mvurya said.
Mvurya is optimistic about the partnership between Kenya and World Athletics. “We are very happy with our collaboration, and we will continue to work very closely with World Athletics,” he said
