NAIROBI: Kenya, facing scrutiny from world anti-doping officials and criticism that it is not doing enough to tackle the problem, has banned seven more athletes for doping offences, raising the total number of Kenyan drug cases in the last three years to 40.

In a statement late on Friday, Athletics Kenya said it had confirmed the sanctions against seven athletes for a range of drug offences.

The list included Emily Chebet, a double world cross country champion and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist. She was handed a four-year ban after testing positive for a diuretic and masking agent furosemide.

Her ban was backdated to July 17 and she will be unable to compete until July 16, 2019.

Sprinters Francisca Koki and Joyce Zakari, who were provisionally suspended by the IAAF and sent home from the Beijing world championships in August, were also each given a four-year ban.

Both tested positive for diuretics and were banned until Aug. 24, 2019.

The doping cases of Zakary, a 400m runner, and Manunga, a 400m hurdler, undermined Kenya’s impressive display at this year’s worlds, where the country tied with Jamaica for the most gold medals with seven.

After the pair tested positive in Beijing, Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto announced plans to criminalise doping.

The latest list also included four long-distance runners, Agnes Jepkosgei, Bernard Mwendia, Judy Jesire Kimuge and Lilian Moraa Marita. They were each suspended for between two and four years.

Kenya boasts some of the world’s finest middle and long-distance runners but in recent years has been shaken by a spate of failed drug tests. Some athletes have said the government and Athletics Kenya have not taken the issue seriously and earlier this week athletes barricaded Athletics Kenya headquarters in Nairobi in protest against corruption and lack of efforts to fight doping in the sport.

Allegations of corruption among Athletics Kenya chiefs tied to a corporate sponsorship deal, combined with Russia’s recent ban from global athletics, have stirred fears the East African nation could be banned from international track and field.

In total, 43 Kenyans have been suspended for doping with 40 of those in the last three years, including Rita Jeptoo, who won the Boston and Chicago Marathons.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2015