Nairobi — Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba on Thursday presented before the National Assembly Committee on Sports the status report of Kenya's preparations towards hosting the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Kenya will host the biennial showpiece alongside neighbors Uganda and Tanzania, and CS Ababu informed the Parliamentary Committee that he is in constant communication with his minister colleagues to ensure they are all on the same page.
Here are some takeouts from CS Ababu's reponses to the Committee, which was chaired by Kabete MP James 'Wamacukuru' Githua.
Principal venues
The CS informed the Committee that there are two principal venues for the tournament. With three countries hosting, each is expected to avail two venues to make for six, for all the groups of the 24-team tournament.
As such, Kenya has picked the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani and the yet-to-be-constructed Talanta City Stadium, a football-only facility as its two primary venues.
He informed the Committee that works have already started at the Kasarani Stadium.
CS Ababu says works at Kasarani include; upgrading of the changing rooms, the pitch, construction of access controls at the gates, floodlights, audio visual installations, new lifts and seats as well as a canopy that will go round the entire stadium.
"By the time we complete Kasarani, it will be as good as new," Ababu said, on works at Kasarani, where ground breaking was done on December 15, with the Kenya Defense Forces taking charge.
On the new Talanta City Stadium, the CS said; "Plans are at an advanced stage and anytime, we will have the ground breaking ceremony." A decision is yet to be finalized on whether the stadium will be in nairobi's Jamhuri area or Shanzu in Mombasa.
Additional venues:
Nyayo Stadium and Kip Keino Stadium have been picked as additional stand-by venues. For Kip Keino in Eldoret, the CS informed the parliamentary committee that design works have already been complete and they are now waiting on the bill of quantities from the Ministry of Works before the contractor can land on site. This he says will be done soon.
Training venues
Kenya has already picked its training venues, spread between Nairobi, Mombasa and Eldoret. In Nairobi, the Kasarani Annex, Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS) Grounds, Ulinzi Sports Complex and the Nyayo Stadium have been picked as training venues.
In Mombasa, the Mbaraki Sports Complex, Shanzu teachers Training College, Mombasa Municipal Stadium, Mombasa Municipal Stadium and the Diani ACK Grounds have been selected.
In Eldoret, the Eldoret University, Eldoret Polytechnic and Eldoret ACK Grounds have been selected as potential training grounds.
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The training grounds will have similar playing surfaces to all the main stadia and the CS said the work around these facilities will be last on the list of stuff to be done.
"we cannot complete them now because there will be a danger of them being destroyed even before the competitions. So to preserve its quality, we have agreed that this will be the last thing on the to do list," Ababu said.
Expected completion date
Ababu informed parliament that work on both the Kasarani and Talanta City Stadium should be completed by December 2025, after which a team of inspectors from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is expected to land and survey the work done.
At the same time, the Kenyan government is expected to deposit a guarantee of 30mn USD (Approx Sh4.3bn) with CAF.
"It is usually 90mn dollars, but since we are three hosts, we have split that amount and every country will deposit 30mn USD," the CS said.
