Among the Akam­ba, we say, “Ngum­bau ivalukaswa ni kisak­wa” — even a cham­pi­on can be brought down by step­ping on a maize cob. After sur­viv­ing bat­tles, one care­less step can undo everything.

That proverb returned to me last Tues­day, when Kitui Green Run announced its win­ners after the Anti-Dop­ing Agency of Kenya (ADAK) com­plet­ed its process. We had cheered them as cham­pi­ons. Then three sam­ples test­ed pos­i­tive, and the affect­ed ath­letes lost their awards and prize money.

I was tak­en back to 2007, when I served as CEO of the IAAF World Cross Coun­try Cham­pi­onships in Mom­basa. Even then, dop­ing threat­ened careers, nation­al hon­or, and the soul of sport. Why are we still leav­ing the corn cob in our path?

Two days lat­er, dur­ing his instal­la­tion as Chan­cel­lor of The Inter­na­tion­al Lead­er­ship Uni­ver­si­ty, Prof. Kivutha Kib­wana warned that Kenya faces a moral cri­sis and urged us to help reimag­ine its cor­rec­tion. Dop­ing is part of that cri­sis: dis­hon­esty dressed in nation­al colors.

The lat­est fig­ures force this con­ver­sa­tion into the light. The World Anti-Dop­ing Agen­cy’s (WADA) lat­est com­plet­ed vio­la­tions report record­ed 2,005 sanc­tions across 124 nation­al­i­ties in 2023. Kenya account­ed for 12 per­cent of ath­lete vio­la­tions — the world’s third-high­est share. ADAK’s live reg­is­ter now lists 45 pro­vi­sion­al­ly sus­pend­ed com­peti­tors, 35 in ath­let­ics; 26 sus­pen­sion dates fall in 2026 alone. Pro­vi­sion­al sus­pen­sion is not guilt, but this pat­tern can­not remain a back­room conversation.

Dop­ing drugs may sound com­pli­cat­ed, but their dan­ger is clear: they can harm the body and mind, destroy medals, income, and rep­u­ta­tion, and wipe out years of sac­ri­fice. In an athlete’s short career, a four-year ban may end it all.

Kenya rat­i­fied UNESCO’s anti-dop­ing con­ven­tion in 2009 but act­ed deci­sive­ly only under intense pres­sure just before Rio 2016. WADA declared Kenya non-com­pli­ant in May 2016 and rein­stat­ed us only after cor­rec­tive action. Russia’s state-spon­sored dop­ing scan­dal trig­gered sanc­tions start­ing in 2015, ulti­mate­ly strip­ping it of its flag, anthem and inter­na­tion­al trust. Must Kenya wait for exclu­sion to knock again?

ADAK can­not pro­tect Kenyan sport with courage alone. The Nation­al Trea­sury and Par­lia­ment should ring-fence mul­ti-year fund­ing for intel­li­gent test­ing through­out the sea­son, both in and out of com­pe­ti­tion, includ­ing small­er nation­al and com­mu­ni­ty races. Par­lia­ment should require an annu­al pub­lic clean-sport score­card that shows tests, sports cov­ered, case time­lines, edu­ca­tion reach, and actions against ath­lete-sup­port net­works, while pro­tect­ing per­son­al and med­ical data.

Should Kenya fur­ther crim­i­nal­ize dop­ing? Yes, but intel­li­gent­ly. We should not fill pris­ons with ath­letes who may them­selves be exploit­ed. Sport­ing sanc­tions must remain firm. Mean­while, sports and health author­i­ties, pro­fes­sion­al reg­u­la­tors, inves­ti­ga­tors, and pros­e­cu­tors must pur­sue coach­es, agents, clin­i­cians, phar­ma­cists, and traf­fick­ers who sup­ply, admin­is­ter, con­ceal, or prof­it from pro­hib­it­ed sub­stances. Whistle­blow­ers need pro­tec­tion, sus­pi­cious sup­ply chains must be inves­ti­gat­ed, and cul­pa­ble sup­port per­son­nel must lose their licens­es and access to sport.

Sanc­tions must be paired with reha­bil­i­ta­tion. Every sus­pend­ed ath­lete should enter a struc­tured pro­gram that includes med­ical assess­ment, coun­sel­ing, ethics edu­ca­tion, and skills and liveli­hood plan­ning, fol­lowed by mon­i­tored rein­te­gra­tion where per­mit­ted. Pun­ish­ment with­out restora­tion can leave a young per­son in pover­ty, shame, and repeat offending.

Kenya’s 2029 World Ath­let­ics bid will test not only our sta­di­ums but also our integri­ty. Pre­ven­tion must begin in schools and camps through val­ues edu­ca­tion and clear guid­ance on med­i­cines and sup­ple­ments. When a minor is impli­cat­ed, the adults around them must be inves­ti­gat­ed. Every race must pub­lish its test­ing and award protocols.

Kitui Green Run deserves glob­al com­men­da­tion. By test­ing ath­letes and with­draw­ing awards when evi­dence demand­ed it, this ‘Run for Rain’ chose integri­ty over con­ve­nience. Its Women’s 10km cham­pi­on, Jac­in­ta Paul, embod­ied its spir­it by advis­ing, “Train Hard, Win Easy.” The next edi­tion must set Kenya’s stan­dard for rac­ing: clean, trans­par­ent, envi­ron­men­tal­ly pur­pose­ful, and athlete-centered.

Kenya must edu­cate ear­ly, test intel­li­gent­ly, dis­man­tle dop­ing net­works, and reha­bil­i­tate ath­letes. Let us remove the maize cob before it top­ples our cham­pi­ons, our 2029 dream, and Kenya’s proud name. Think green, act green!