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{
    "id": 647005,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/647005/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 274,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you know very well that one thing that Kenya is known for the world over is our success in athletics. It is a national brand and image and it has sold our image abroad. At some point, we should do a study and understand how much in terms of branding revenue our athletes give to this country. It is good that we are dealing with a Bill which will protect our very sacred sport and will give good sense of direction. It is a great honour for this House to also make its contributions. I thank the effort of the Senate Majority Leader and the team that worked to ensure that we also get a chance to give our opinions and thoughts to this process. I hope that this is the beginning of reforming the almost defunct or moribund sports industry in Kenya. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you are aware that sports has the potential to employ very many of our young people, if only we could reform many of the so-called associations that have been a big let-down to this country. I hope with the coming of this Anti-Doping Bill, the same will apply to football and many other sports that are loved by our young people. However, because of cartels and cocoons by greedy people who do not care for the fame that sports bring to this nation, that has not been properly followed. I hope this is the beginning of good things. It is a sign that we are beginning to take sports very seriously as a country and that good things are coming. Lastly, there is an issue I wish to draw your attention to which many Senators have talked about. I hope the Senate Majority Leader will take note so that we deal with it during amendments on the Bill. Under Part IV which is about General Provisions, Clause 42(1)(d) talks about a person or body who fails to comply with any lawful order or directions of the Agency. This is an ambiguous Clause because it could as well be an order for a person to be called upon to check if they are participating in criminal activity of either peddling some of the performance enhancing drugs or using them. For such a serious crime, you would expect that the drafters of the Bill will put very stringent penalties. The penalty is only a paltry Kshs100,000. I think that is an error that should not be left to go. It is something we have to be concerned about. Otherwise, people will say that after all, it is only Kshs100,000 that they need to pay and they may as well not appear before the Agency. When somebody knows that it is clearly written in the Bill that you may as well fail to comply and the punishment is clearly stated as a fine not exceeding Kshs100,000. In conclusion, there is an aspect that probably the Bill may not capture because laws, by their very nature, do not capture every aspect of a habit or solve a problem. It is an issue to do with values. This should set a good example for many of our young people to know that for anything that you strive for and want in this life, you must earn it with dignity. This is a good Bill and I hope that it will pass the same message to them to know that many world stars and athletes that we see each and every weekend earning good revenues and improving--- Thank you, I do not want to be out of order."
}