ADAK to partner with LSK in fighting doping

The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) will partner with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to provide professional training and capacity building to advocates with a view of enhancing their capacity in handling Anti-Doping cases.

This was revealed by the CEO Japhter Rugut when he made a presentation during the LSK Annual Conference in Kwale. He decried the low numbers of lawyers  grounded on Anti-Doping jurisprudence citing it as the key reason why the Agency will undertake the capacity building activities.

“We currently have many matters in court at the Sports Disputes Tribunal we have instituted since inception. What we have found out is that we have very few lawyers in this country who have specialized in Anti-Doping issues. This is understandable because the area is an emerging issue and thus requires capacity building of the key stakeholders involved,” said Rugut.

The Agency will put in place mechanisms to ensure that lawyers participating in these sensitization and training forums earn Continuous Professional Development (CPD) points through their society, the LSK. Speaking during the same event the Chief Executive Officer, LSK, Mercy Wambua welcomed the proposal by the Agency observing that as a contemporary phenomenon Anti-Doping is one of the areas that would benefit lawyers.

“Our CPD Committee sits annually to review emerging areas which it then factors for our members professional training. Clearly, Anti-Doping is one of those areas where advocates are required to apply specialized knowledge since it is an emerging issue.

We look forward to working with ADAK in this endeavor and urge our members to take up the opportunity and ground themselves in Anti-Doping,” she said.

When making his presentation; ‘The Place of Anti-Doping in the Rule of Law and Contested Constitutionalism’ the ADAK Chief Executive Officer revealed that the Agency will soon be submitting a written proposal that will provide the framework on  how it aspires to provide the technical grounding to advocates through its Legal

department.

“Our in-house legal team led by Damaris Ogama who is the Manager, Legal Services and who is also an advocate of the High Court is almost finalizing the proposal which we shall submit to the LSK so that we formally begin our engagement. The partnership is timely since as the Agency continues to grow we shall also have a pool of lawyers who will respond to the unique needs of the Anti-Doping discipline.

Besides the cases at the Sports Disputes Tribunal which is a division of the Judiciary, advocates who take an interest in Anti-Doping will also have a chance to provide specialized legal services to sports federations as we move towards ensuring that they are compliant to the world Anti-Doping code,” added Rugut.