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"We have been given a one-month extension by WADA...we are
proceeding to Mombasa to consult with the Parliamentary
Committee on Labour and Sports so that when the (new
anti-doping) bill comes for a second reading ... we will be on
the same page," said an Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK)
source.
The bill is a key requirement for the east African nation, famed
for its distance runners but tarnished by around 40 doping cases
in recent years, to be declared compliant with the WADA code
ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.
"We have no doubt things will be fine," added the highly-placed
source who declined to be identified.
Kenya was given a deadline to enact the law or be declared
non-compliant, which brings WADA sanctions, but parliament went
into recess earlier this month and the bill could not become law
before time ran out on April 5.
The governing International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) said last month it was highly unlikely Kenya would be
suspended from the Olympics.
WADA is due to issue its decision on Kenya's case at a board
meeting on May 12.
Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Tuesday that the bill
could not be fast-tracked to beat the deadline but he was
certain his nation's athletes would be participating at the
Olympics.
"The country is committed and what we are telling them (WADA) is
... let our processes go through," Kenyatta told France 24 in an
interview.
"I'm confident Kenya will participate at the Olympics and win
more gold ... the problem would have been if there was lack of
commitment in terms on enacting. That commitment is there at the
National Assembly."
WADA spokesman Ben Nichols told the BBC on Tuesday that his
agency was happy with the first steps Kenya had taken towards
meeting compliance.
The country's Sports Cabinet Secretary Dr Hassan Wario told the
BBC that the Parliamentary Committee on Labour and Sports would
be meeting in Mombasa on Friday to pour over the bill before it
went for its second and third readings.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
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