Officials on Tuesday said Kenya is well on course to stage the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which it is co-hosting with Uganda and Tanzania.
Nicholas Musonye, chairperson of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), said Kenya is applying the lessons it learned from hosting the 2024 African Nations Championship as it prepares to stage the biggest football tournament in Africa.
The 36th edition of Afcon is scheduled to take place from June 19 to July 17.
“Everything is in place, and Kenya is ready for Afcon,” Musonye told the Departmental Committee on Sports and Culture at Bunge Towers in Nairobi yesterday.
The sports committee is chaired by Dan Wanyama, MP for Webuye West.
“We successfully hosted the 2024 CHAN last year, and now we are preparing for the biggest football tournament on the continent. We have put everything in place, and we are determined to make it a success,” Musonye said.
However, he acknowledged that they are facing some challenges in the preparations, including delays to infrastructure projects. He said they need adequate funding to finalise the plans, but expressed confidence that the challenges would be addressed in time.
“There are risks, including delays in infrastructure development and securing sufficient funding, among others. As the LOC, we are working to ensure these challenges do not derail our preparations,” he said.
Matungulu MP Stephen Mule called for an early physical inspection of all stadiums to ensure the country’s preparedness.
Mr Wanyama said that Parliament already has an inspection programme in place. He also said national broadcaster, KBC, should be granted the rights to manage the local broadcast of the tournament before selling sublicences to other broadcasters. He argued that this would generate greater economic benefits for the country.
However, Musonye said that, under the hosting agreement signed by the three host nations and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), all commercial rights belong to CAF. But KBC in Kenya, UBC in Uganda and TBC in Tanzania will have the rights to broadcast the matches,” he said. “The commercial rights belong to CAF under the hosting agreement signed by the three countries. However, KBC in Kenya, UBC in Uganda, and TBC in Tanzania will have the rights to broadcast the matches,” he said.
The tournament will be played at the refurbished Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani and the under-construction Raila Odinga International Stadium (also known as the Talanta Stadium).
Musonye said that the Local Organising Committee is keen to ensure that the tournament leaves a lasting legacy.
“We do not want to host Afcon and leave without a legacy. We want everyone to benefit, including hoteliers, transport operators, hawkers, market women and other small businesses. We expect the tournament to boost tourism and create economic opportunities for many Kenyans,” he said.
“Overall, we assess that Kenya remains firmly on course. The remaining work is to complete the ongoing projects. My team at the Secretariat is working alongside the Steering Committee with renewed commitment to ensure we deliver a successful AFCON in 2027,” he added.
In March this year, the government restructured the 38-member LOC, retaining Musonye as chairperson and Hussein Mohammed, the FKF President, as vice-chairperson. Antony Lung’aho replaced Myke Rabar as head of the LOC Secretariat.
