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{
    "id": 1238633,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1238633/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 300,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mungatana, MGH",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I first take this opportunity to congratulate the hon. Sen. Cherarkey, the Senator for Nandi for bringing up this Motion before this House today. This Motion addresses an extremely important issue that deals with the nation’s pride. Madam Temporary Speaker, reports show that there are 45 Kenyan athletes facing sanctions because of suspicion of doping. Some have actually been confirmed and convicted. There are important events that are going to take place next year in the Paris Olympics of 2024, in which Kenya, at least in the field of athletics, is expected to give sterling performance, given the history that we have had as a nation. Therefore, it behooves us and the bodies that are in athletics and control issues to do with welfare and in particular the doping checks that are in this country, to make sure that Kenya’s image is impeccable as we go towards the 2024 Paris Olympics. Madam Temporary Speaker, to demonstrate that this matter is very serious, the CS for Sports, Culture and Heritage, Hon. Ababu Namwamba, wrote a letter to Sebastian Coe, who is the boss in the world athletics body, urging him not to take final measures against the athletes, who were suspected to be involved in doping. The issue here is that some of these athletes are very innocent people who are just looking for a way to earn a living. I have a personal experience with a young man who is an up coming athlete. This young man came to me and told me that he wanted me to invest in me. He does not even come from my county. However, he spoke to me because at the time, I was having a legal practice slightly outside Nairobi. He came in as a client but as he was leaving, he told me that he is also in athletics. That is the first time that I got to know the world of athletics. Athletics is a business that Kenya can thrive in. It brings a lot of money, but there has got to be serious investments in the athletes. One of those investments is to make sure that the athlete stays in a good reputable camp so that, he or she can train, put his body in good shape and participate in particular races, which are paid up. There are races that these athletes target. They may not be Boston Marathon and New York Marathon, which have very high price monies but just normal marathons across the world. They have a list of those marathons in which they invest in. They will tell you: “Pay for me to stay in the camp, help me to get a coach, these are the costs and so on.” Madam Temporary Speaker, I have invested in this kind of business, in upcoming athletics young men. These are very innocent people. Someone maybe a mechanic during the day but he realizes that he has actually a talent because maybe in school, he always used to do well in athletics. These people are very innocent. Some of them have fallen victim because they joined camps, whereby, we have crooked trainers; people who have come to this country as my colleague Sen. Cherarkey has said without proper documentation. They have gone"
}