Table of Contents
- The government has restored the Kenyan Anti-Doping budget after lobbying
- ADAK has been pushing for increased funding through the Ministry of Sports
- The government slashed the agency’s budget in the 2023-2024 annual budget
The government has restored the Kenyan Anti-Doping budget after lobbying by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK).
ADAK has been pushing for increased funding through the Ministry of Sports. The government slashed the agency’s budget in the 2023-2024 annual budget nearly crippling its operations in the country.
The National Treasury justified its 20 million ADAK allocation to the aftermath of the widely rejected 2024 Finance Bill.
The Treasury said that ADAK was one of the many government institutions that had to grapple with a thin budget following public outcry over the draconian bill.
Reinstatement of the Kenyan Anti-Doping Budget
Close to a year of lobbying, ADAK managed to get the Kenyan Anti-Doping budget reinstated.
The Anti-Doping Agency will get an allocation of Ksh185 million in the 2025 Financial Year, down from Ksh20 million the previous year.
It was a huge blow as the National Treasury had allocated Ksh288 million in the 2022-2023 Financial Year.
The slim budget allocation in the last financial year affected the delivery of services at a time that doping among athletes is on the rise.
Doping. Photo/ELGA LabWater
ADAK’s testing, collection of intelligence reports, result management and campaigns aimed at creating anti-doping awareness nearly ground to a halt.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) raised concerns with ADAK’s budget slashing and warned that Kenya would be flagged for non-compliance.
An audit by WADA in May 2024 revealed the fire budgetary constraints ADAK was grappling with.
It issued a raft of measures geared towards addressing the financial constraints ADAK was facing.
Multi-Agency Push
Following WADA’s pronouncement on the issue, The National Treasury, the Ministry of Sports and several parliamentary committees discussed how to reinstate the Kenyan Anti-Doping budget.
Many months later, the agency is looking at an allocation of Ksh185 million for the 2025-2026 Financial Year.
Kenya’s Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya. Photo/Salim Mvurya
“The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) is pleased to announce the reinstatement of its national budget allocation for the 2024-2025 financial year. This critical funding decision by the Government of Kenya marks a major step forward in the country’s efforts to uphold the integrity of sport and reinforces the nation’s commitment to the global anti-doping agenda,” ADAK said in a statement on Wednesday.
It maintained that reinstating the Kenyan Anti-Doping budget was a show of commitment that the country was keen on having clean sport.
“The 2024/25 financial year had seen a drastic reduction in funding, dropping to KES 20 million, which threatened ADAK’s operations and risked Kenya’s compliance to the Code and related International Standards.”
ADAK is working towards ensuring all Corrective Actions outlined by WADA in its 2024 audit are met and fully complied with.
Future Budgetary Allocation
The agency expressed optimism about more budgetary allocation in future. It said this would be sufficient ground to maintain clean sports in Kenya.
The National Treasury. Photo/National Treasury
“It is our hope that the coming year 2025/26 will see an even increased funding on the program to exude more confidence Nationally and across the International Sporting platform on Kenya’s commitment to presenting Clean athletes.”
Nonetheless, lack of sufficient funding did not affect the implementation of ADAK’s core mandates across Athletics.
The Kenyan government committed $5 million annually for five years (2023/24 — 2027/28) to bolster Anti-Doping efforts in athletics.
For the second year running, ADAK continues to embrace a multi-agency and multi-pronged approach to mitigate the increasing incidences of doping.
ADAK recognises the importance of creating awareness in the fight against doping in sport. To this end, Anti-Doping Education remains the first point of contact for athletes, support personnel and other persons.
Consequently, the education and research department continues to spearhead awareness campaigns, school outreach programs, and workshops in collaboration with teachers, coaches, and community leaders.
