An excavator ploughing the pitch at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County on May 24, 2025.
A campaign promise can define a presidency.
For former President Uhuru Kenyatta and his then Deputy President William Ruto, the 2013 promise to build nine new stadiums across the country, and to refurbish all the existing ones, once inspired hope among Kenyan athletes.
Twelve years later, with Ruto now as President, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have won the rights to co-host the delayed 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
Yet Kenya is still struggling with the same problem of unfinished stadiums and missed deadlines, raising fears that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) might again strip the country of the rights to co-host 2024 CHAN.
Kenya was awarded the rights to host the 1996 Afcon and 2018 CHAN, and was later stripped of the opportunity to host the tournaments due to inadequate preparations.
CHAN is a biennial football tournament reserved for players featuring in their respective domestic leagues. The upcoming competition, which will feature 19 teams including the three host nations, has been scheduled for August 2 to 30.
Initially, the tournament was scheduled for September last year before being postponed to February 1 to 28 this year.
Later, it was pushed to August 2 to 30.
The tournament was postponed from February to August due to inadequate preparations by the three host nations, Kenya being the main culprit.
“I am impressed with the ongoing construction and renovation of the football infrastructure and facilities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Workers at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County on My 24, 2025.
I am confident that the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals, and other infrastructure and facilities will be at the requisite CAF standards for hosting, in August 2025,” CAF President Patrice Motsepe observed in Nairobi while announcing the postponement of the competition on January 14.
In Kenya, Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani and Nyayo National Stadium have been designated as match venues for CHAN. The training venues are Ulinzi Sports Complex, Police Sacco Stadium, Kasarani (two pitches), and Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County.
For efficiency and to ensure the stadiums are renovated to the standards set by the world football governing body Fifa as well as CAF, President Ruto tasked the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) under the Ministry of Defence to supervise the works.
After CAF blacklisted all of Kenya’s stadiums from hosting its matches, Kasarani was the first to be closed for major renovation in August 2023.
Changing of the playing surface, enhancement of the floodlights, replacement of old seats, establishment of a media tribune, and installation of LED boards and giant screens were some of the works meant to be undertaken at the venue.
A CAF officer inspects the grass at Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani in Nairobi on May 24, 2025.
At Nyayo, which was closed for renovation in August 2024, major works were to be undertaken, including upgrading the playing surface, changing rooms, installation of floodlights, setting up a media tribune, media centre, and an anti-doping room.
Whereas the postponement of the tournament from February to August was a huge reprieve to Kenya, the country is still lagging behind in having match venues ready for the tournament, as revealed by a CAF inspection conducted from May 22 to 24.
Grass had yet to be planted on the pitch at Kirigiti Stadium by the time the inspection was taking place, raising serious doubt about the venue being ready in time for the tournament’s kick-off in August.
“They (CAF officials) feel that Kirigiti Stadium is very far off (from being ready) because the grass has yet to be planted on the pitch. It means that the pitch will not be ready for use by the time the tournament starts,” a source who was part of the inspection team and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation said.
The source stated that CAF’s entourage was of the view that, with less than two months remaining before the tournament starts, Kenya should now be doing final touches with regard to preparations and not undertaking major works so close to the tournament as is currently the case.
Workers remove the running track at the Nyayo National Stadium Athletics on April 26, 2025.
“The condition of the pitches does not look bad, but they (CAF entourage) feel that they can be better,” the source disclosed, adding that out of all the training venues, only Ulinzi Sports Complex was nearing completion in view of the inspection team. The rest were found to be lagging behind, with major works like installation of floodlights still pending.
“Floodlights have yet to be installed in all the other training grounds, and that is a major concern to the CAF team because it needs a lot of work,” said the source.
While a perimeter wall is being constructed around Nyayo and major works are pending at Kasarani, the source revealed that the installation of floodlights inside the stadium, and erection of giant screens and LED boards was underway.
Lack of funds, the source revealed, was to blame for the slow pace of the work at the venues.
“The problem is that the main contractors have not been paid, so they don’t have the money to pay the sub-contractors doing some of the work. With that, they cannot push the sub-contractors to expedite the work,” the source said.
From left: Uganda’s Minister of State for Sports Peter Ogwang’, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Sports Salim Mvurya, Tanzania’s Minister for Information, Culture, Arts, and Sports, and CAF Secretary General Veron Mosengo-Omba address a press conference in Nairobi on June 3, 2025.
Reacting to uproar from Kenyans over reports of the country’s unpreparedness to host the tournament, Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya stated: “I have seen some people saying on social media that Kenya is not ready to host the tournament. There should be no cause for alarm. We had a meeting with a team from CAF because it is normal for the team to do inspections until the final day in July.”
Mvurya said the government had already made significant investments in sports infrastructure, particularly at Nyayo National Stadium and Kasarani.
“We have already paid the Sh1.6 billion hosting fee for CHAN. All the other processes are normal to ensure we are in tandem with the progress of making sure that Kenya hosts CHAN,” he added.
While addressing journalists in Nairobi on May 27, CAF Secretary General Veron Mosengo-Omba remained cautiously optimistic with regards to Kenya’s progress in getting ready to host the tournament. However, the official said Kenya can only be sure of hosting the continental showpiece if the country maintains the current momentum in ensuring the readiness of all facilities.
“I came here in December and there was no grass in different pitches but today, you can even play golf there. This shows a huge progress has been made since then and even Nyayo has hosted two matches,” Veron said.
“Then, there were some seats at Kasarani but now the stadium is full of seats. There are some aspects which must be completed before we can say Kenya can host the game,” added Veron.
He observed that Tanzania’s level of preparation for the tournament was also commendable, but the three East Africa nations must ensure they race against time to deliver CHAN.
“If this region doesn’t deliver CHAN, then it will be very difficult to trust that they will do so for the 2027 Afcon which will also be hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania,” said Veron.
Only time will tell if Kenya will be ready in time to co-host the tournament.
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