Kenya may lose out on the hosting rights for the 2027 African Cup of Nations AFCON if the government does not pay the KSh 3.9 billion hosting fee by the end of this month.
This was revealed by the Sports PS Elijah Mwangi when he appeared yesterday before the Parliamentary Committee for Sports led by Webuye East MP Dan Wanyama when presenting the 2025/2026 Supplementary Estimates 1.
“We have received communication from CAF giving the timelines on the activities that should be done in readiness to host the CHAN. We appreciate the National Treasury because in the 2026/2027 BPS, there was an allocation of around Kshs 5 billion, 3.5 billion being the hosting fees. But in the light of the recent communication from CAF, we have been given up to the 30th of March to clear the payment of hosting fees,” the PS said.
According to the PS, Tanzania and Uganda, who are also in the Pamoja hosting bid, have already paid their fees, and the gains made so far by Kenya towards hosting the games will go down the drain.
“CAF are very particular that we must show commitment by paying the contribution. So I am seeking this committee to kindly consider this supplementary in conjunction with the National Treasury to have the 206/2027 budget brought forward. ”
At the same time, he disclosed to the Committee that the infrastructure expected to host the games may also not be ready in six months’ time due to pending bills owed to the contractors engaged during the 2024 CHAN games.
Wanyama, while reacting to the PS request, assured the State Department that the Committee will push the National Treasury to release the hosting funds.
“We’ve heard you, and we will push the Treasury to release money for the hosting rights so that we do not get into the quagmire of us being denied the chance to host AFCON and then giving a chance to our neighbours to do so. It will be a big shame to Kenya, which has always been a big brother in the region,” the Chairperson said.
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are set to host next year’s AFCON between June 19 and July 18th.
The PAMOJA AFCON will be the last edition of the biennial AFCON tournament before switching to quadrennial from 2028.
Kenya will participate in next year’s AFCON as hosts, making a return since 2019 in Egypt, while their co-hosts Uganda and Tanzania took part in last year’s edition in Morocco.
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