Ongoing construction of Talanta Sports City Stadium in Nairobi on this photo taken on January 23, 2025
The government plans to allocate an additional Sh671 million in the year beginning July, for the development and management of sports facilities across the country.
At the same time, the expenditure on sports training and competitions is expected to increase by Sh102 million, signaling a broad push to strengthen the sporting sector.
General administration, planning and support expenditure in the State Department for Sport has been projected to increase by Sh8 million.
According to the proposed budget estimates for the 2025/2026 financial year, the increase in projected expenditure in the two critical sectors is attributed to eight major events that Kenya will be hosting and the participation of 40 national teams in international competitions.
Some of the major global events that Kenya is scheduled to host in the coming financial year include the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally, Sirikwa Classic World Cross Country Tour, 2026 World Athletics Junior Championship, Para Volley Africa Zonal Championship, Magical Kenya Golf Championship, Kip Keino Classic World Continental Tour, Rugby Safari 7s and Nairobi City Marathon.
Meanwhile, some of the major global events where Kenya will send delegations include the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal from October 31 to November 13, Africa Women’s Cup of Nations qualifiers, and the 2025 Summer Deaflympics in Tokyo from November 15 to 26.
In the proposed budget estimates for the 2025/2026 financial year, the development and management of sports facilities has been allocated Sh17.8 billion, up from Sh17.1 billion in the ending financial year.
On the other hand, sports training and competitions have been allocated Sh516.4 million, an increase from Sh459.7 million in the ending financial year.
While the expenditure on sports training and competitions is expected to decline in the 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 financial years, the funding for the development and management of sports facilities is expected to increase with allocations of Sh18.9 billion and Sh20 billion respectively.
In addition to hosting eight international events and sending 40 teams to compete in major sporting events, the budget for sports training and competitions for the year starting July will also fund several projects including the training of 2,700 athletes and 1,500 technical and administration personnel by the Kenya Academy of Sports (KSA).
The agency will also conduct three research programmes on sports talent and develop curricula and curriculum support material in five disciplines.
Anti-Doping tests
The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya plans to carry out 1,300 tests and sensitise 18,000 people while the Sports Registrar intends to register 350 new sports organizations, license 30 professional athletes, inspect 45 federations and digitise the registration process.
Some of the projects to be funded by the development and management of sports facilities budget in the upcoming financial year include the competition Talanta Sports City and the upgrading of the Moi International Sports Centre, Nyayo National Stadium, and Kipchoge Keino Stadium.
The facilities are among those that Kenya has earmarked for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Kenya will co-host the competition with Uganda and Tanzania. KSA will also use part of the budget to finalise the construction of Phase 1B of its complex and initiate the construction of 40 Constituency Sports Academies across the country.
While the sector was allocated Sh200,863,695 in the ending financial year, the allocation has been increased to Sh208,454, 221.
