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{
    "id": 1043085,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1043085/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 57,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "went with his son to the Rio Olympics and the National Olympics Committee paid a ticket for him. It was disgraceful behaviour for a man who has upheld integrity, was never caught on the wrong side of doping, has never been accused of helping or encouraging anybody to dope and has done so much for this country. This Bill having come from the National Assembly, we enjoin them in bringing it to fruition so that as we prepare for the Tokyo Olympics - if they will take place because of the Corona challenges - we can have our athletes go there. Very important clauses in this Bill include the creation of the National Anti- Doping Agency and designating it as the only legitimate agency that will deal with doping and anti-doping activities. This is because we run a risk if we do not have such clarity of all manner of people coming up. We have even seen in the COVID-19 testing, some laboratories that are questionable churning out certificates of COVID-19 free for Kenyans to travel and endangering our relationship with friendly States. Therefore, having an agency that will be vested with exclusive authority to deal with this - this is found in Clause 5 - is very important because it then standardizes the process of checking whether our athletes have been engaged in such activities or not. We also need to put in place - it is not very clear in the Bill - the educational part of it. Our young athletes who are emerging must constantly be brought to know that they may encounter people who want to destroy their careers. A stranger can give you a packet of biscuits that are laced with something, or a bottle of juice that is laced with something that can destroy your career. Our athletes need to be brought to understand that discipline is the key to success. We, as a country, must join celebrated athletes like Ms. Lorna Kiplagat who have set up training centres in Iten. When you were the Governor of Bungoma, you started to build a high altitude training centre in Mt. Elgon that has unfortunately stalled because of your departure from the county. We need to have those centres in areas where we have celebrated athletes, such as Nandi, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nyahururu, Kisii and Mt. Elgon in Bungoma. Places where we have very good breeding ground for athletes who can take early steps to train and be told what to do and what not to do in climbing the ladder to success, so that they are not caught up on the way and their careers destroyed. The life of an athlete is very short. You cannot be a top-flight athlete after 30 or 33 years because you are worn out. They start from age 17 and by the time they hit 30 years, they are exhausted. If they do not have anything else to do in life, we end up having sorry and unfortunate situations like that of Mr. Henry Rono from Nandi county who broke six world records in two months and ended up in a poor state in the United States of America (USA). That is because there were no mentorship programmes to help them know what to do and what not to do. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I end, when I was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I started a programme of recognising our athletes as our goodwill ambassadors for this country. Wherever they go, even when our Head of State visits a country, our flag would be hoisted and our Anthem played only once. However, when Kenya wins four gold medals The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}