Sports CS Mvurya rallies Africa to adopt unified anti-doping action

Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports Salim Mvurya has urged African nations to adopt a unified and forward-looking strategy to strengthen the continent’s anti-doping systems, as preparations advance toward the implementation of the revised 2027 World Anti-Doping Code.

Addressing delegates at the World Anti-Doping Conference on Sport in Busan, the Cabinet Secretary emphasized that Africa’s expanding global sporting dominance must be matched with stronger institutional preparedness and harmonized anti-doping frameworks.

“As African athletes continue to dominate world arenas, our continent must match this excellence with credible, harmonized anti-doping programs that protect fairness and the future of clean sport,” he said.

CS Mvurya cautioned against fragmented progress, noting that sustainable success requires collaboration among nations with differing levels of institutional capacity but shared compliance priorities. He reiterated

Kenya’s interest in hosting the 2028 Regional Conference on Intelligence and Investigations, positioning the

country as a strategic partner in continental capacity strengthening.

“Africa’s strength lies in understanding our diversity and designing capacity-building models that uplift every nation, big or small. We must invest in the right structures, the right people, and the right tools if we are to safeguard the integrity of African sport,” he stated.

On the sidelines of the conference, CS Mvurya held high-level engagements with WADA leadership, including Director General Olivier Niggli and Africa Regional Director Rodney Swigelaar.

During the discussions, he reaffirmed Kenya’s continued commitment to completing all corrective actions under the WADA Watchlist, in alignment with the directive of President William Ruto, who has elevated the protection of clean sport to a national development priority.

The Government of Kenya underscored that the watchlist period is a strategic opportunity for long-term transformation rather than a short-term compliance exercise.

“Kenya regards the watchlist period as a transformative phase that will strengthen national systems, enhance transparency, and ensure long-term resilience aligned to global best practice,” CS Mvurya affirmed.

Significant progress has already been registered by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) across governance, national testing, intelligence systems, investigations, education, and prevention.

The country has strengthened institutional mandates, enhanced oversight systems, expanded testing pools through improved risk-based planning, improved secure information handling, and scaled up athlete and support-personnel education using globally aligned standards.

 CS Mvurya stated that Kenya remains resolute in its ambition to emerge from the corrective action process as a continental and global model for anti-doping excellence, reinforcing its long-term leadership in protecting the integrity of African sport and the ideals of fair competition.