Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya (centre) and his Interior and National administration counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen (second, left) tour Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani on January 7, 2025.
The State Department for Sports will lose Sh1.1 billion in funding in the final budget estimates for the 2025/26 financial year, which were tabled before Parliament on Wednesday.
The reduction, presented by the Budget and Appropriations Committee, comes despite the Ministry of Sports earlier raising concerns over underfunding, with no allocation, for instance, made for the co-hosting rights fees for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
Kenya is set to co-host the 36th edition of Africa’s premier football tournament with Uganda and Tanzania. The Sh3.9 billion co-hosting rights fees for the 2027 Afcon is due in April next year.
The national budget for the 2025/26 financial year is Sh4.2 trillion, with BAC allocating Sh17. 46 to the State Department for Sports – down from the Sh18.59 initially proposed by the National Treasury.
According to the National Treasury’s initial proposal for the docket, Sh1.48bn was allocated for recurrent expenditure, while Sh17.1 was earmarked for development expenditure.
However, in the final budget estimates for the 2025/26 financial year by BAC which is chaired by Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi, the recurrent expenditure for the State Department for Sports has been increased to Sh1.63bn while the development expenditure has been reduced to Sh15.84bn.
The House was set to adopt the BAC’s report on Thursday evening.
It will inform National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi’s Budget highlights and revenue raising measures in the National Assembly on June 12.
In its submission to the National Assembly’s Committee on Sports and Culture on May 19, the Ministry of Sports led by Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya emphasised that the hosting rights fees are critical in finalising Kenya’s role as co-host of the 2027 Afcon.
“Kenya is scheduled to host Afcon 2027 alongside Uganda and Tanzania. The hosting agreements for Afcon 2027 have been drafted and require signing, along with the settlement of Sh3.9 billion ($30 million).
Kenya is obligated to pay the hosting rights fee by April 2026. This amount has not been provided in the FY 2025/26 Budget Estimates,” said the Ministry of Sports.
The National Assembly’s Committee on Sports and Culture drew the concerns to the attention of BAC.
“That Kenya is scheduled to host Afcon 2027 alongside Tanzania and Uganda. However, there is no provision in the proposed annual estimates for payment of hosting the rights for Afcon 2027 amounting to Sh3.9 billion ($30 million) which should be paid by April 2026,” observed the Committee on Sports and Culture in their report to BAC last week.
However, a boost in the allocation to the State Department for Sport was highly unlikely as BAC had ruled out the possibility of allocating additional funding to Ministries. In its report to the House, BAC has not made any recommendations regarding the 2027 Afcon hosting rights fees.
