The Nairobi high court ordered the national athletics body, Athletics Kenya (AK), to dissolve and have the board vacate the office. The board has not held elections for eight years. A tenure not in accordance with the society’s act, according to judge Lawrence Mugambi.

Ten former international athletes led by two-time Boston Marathon winner Moses Tanui took over in 2016 from Isiah Kiplagat. At the time, they asked AK to amend its constitution to allow sportspeople to serve on the body. Mugambi ended the very long legal battle with the judgement.

“The officials and Executive Committee of the 1st respondent (AK) who have been in office for a cumulative period of 8 years, have served their terms in full and must forthwith vacate office,” said Mugambi. “They shall be ineligible to contest for any position in the organization.”

The board has been led by retired army general Jackson Tuwei. He took over when Kiplagat was suspended over conflict of interest allegations in 2015.

The board has 90 days to review its constitution.

The point of the current board was to rise above previous allegations against Kiplagat of “graft,” or political corruption. Graft is defined in American law as the unscrupulous use of a politician’s authority for personal gain. Not holding elections for eight years, amid the worst spate of doping in the country’s history was one of the red flags that started the process.

Be that as it may, Kenya has had the most positive doping tests outside of Russia. Meanwhile, Russia remains under a national ban due to systematic doping and the illegal war in Ukraine. And there is India, with a 1.1 billion population that dwarfs Kenya. Approximately 70 Kenyan athletes have been suspended for whereabouts failures, extortion, doping, and influencing doping control officers. It is alleged that there may be doping coverups within AK.

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