Edward Zakayo: How My Career Collapsed After AK, ADAK Suspended Me Over 'Lost Phone'

Former world under-20 champion Edward Zakayo has spoken, seven months after his suspension left his career and family in turmoil. 

The 23-year-old Kenyan long-distance runner shared a harrowing account of how a simple human error — losing his phone — spiraled into a suspension that has devastated his life.

Zakayo, who has represented Kenya with distinction since 2017, recounted the chain of events that began after a race in Spain on November 29, 2023. 

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Exhausted from competition and travel, he left his small hand luggage — containing his phone, power bank, and only access to his ADAMS account — on a plane during a connection flight in Dubai.

“I begged the airline staff: ‘Please, I left my bag on the plane. My phone is inside. Can I go back?’ They told me firmly: ‘No, you cannot. For security reasons, once you exit you cannot re-enter. Report it to lost and found,’” Zakayo explained, describing the start of his nightmare in a long note posted on his official Facebook page.

He rushed to the lost and found desk, only to be told that the flight was being cleaned and his bag would arrive in four hours. But with only thirty minutes before his connecting flight to Nairobi, he had no choice but to leave without it.

Back in Kenya, Zakayo tried to contact Emirates using another email, but received no response. 

“That phone was gone. And with it, my lifeline to ADAMS,” he said.

 Efforts to update his whereabouts were delayed further when he discovered his Safaricom line could not be replaced while still active in Dubai, leaving him powerless to access critical systems.

In April 2024, when he finally managed to replace the line and meet ADAK officers at Lornah Club, Zakayo thought his ordeal was over. 

“You don’t have any missed tests,” one officer told him.

 Yet, instead of correcting his record, ADAK later imposed a missed test, leaving Zakayo confused and frustrated.

“Did you even check my whereabouts before going to Kapsait?” he asked. The officer snapped, “That’s not your business!” — and hung up.

During the National Trials in May 2024, Zakayo claims he faced further humiliation.

Shuffled between Athletics Kenya (AK) and ADAK offices seven times, he endured hunger and exhaustion, only to be told at the last minute: “You don’t have any problem. Pick your number and go.” By then, his opportunity to compete had been lost.

Zakayo continued to compete internationally, winning races in Nigeria, Gabon, and Istanbul, but each victory came with tears. 

He trained relentlessly for the Copenhagen Half Marathon in August 2024, a race that was meant to secure his family’s future.

Then came the call that shattered everything. “My brother… do you know you are suspended?” his agent asked on August 6, 2024. The athlete was left speechless. “Why now? Why after all this time? Why let me train, run, suffer, and then destroy me?” he said.

Zakayo’s wife was two months pregnant, and he found himself helpless as his suspension left his family in dire straits. 

“My sister risks being sent home from school. My pregnant wife asks me, ‘What will we eat? What will happen to our baby?’ I have no answer. Sometimes I sit and cry alone,” he shared.

From 2015, athletics was his life, a ladder out of poverty. 

Now, Zakayo says the system that should have protected him instead destroyed him. 

“Not once have I ever used banned substances. Not once have I ever thought of cheating. My only mistake was losing my phone… But because I am poor, because I cannot pay lawyers, because I have no protection, they destroyed me.”

Zakayo’s story is a sorrowful testament to the harsh realities behind Kenya’s athletics glory — where dreams can be dashed by bureaucracy, miscommunication and unchecked power.