The National Assembly Committee on Sports and Culture has been informed of payment of Ksh 1.6 billion by the government to secure the rights to host the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN).
The Dan Wanyama-led Committee was informed by Sports Cabinet Secretary, Salim Mvurya, that this is the requisite fee that is paid to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
CS Mvurya told the Committee during a meeting at Bunge Towers on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, that the payment is the confirmation of the government’s commitment to hosting the championship in August this year.
“The government is committed to meeting the financial obligations to CAF to guarantee eligibility as hosts. To this end, a payment of Ksh 1.6 billion was made to CAF as per the terms that were agreed on,” said Mvurya.
Why Kenya paid Ksh 1.6b to CHAF?
While appearing before the Committee to appraise Members on Kenya’s preparedness to host CHAN, the Sports CS said payment of the funds was a major step towards preparations for the football bonanza.
Asked by Matungulu MP, Stephen Mule about the source of the money, the CS explained that the funds were paid directly from the National Treasury.
The CS informed legislators that preparations by the government to co-host the AFCON with Uganda and Tanzania were on course.
He noted that successful hosting of CHAN will pave the way for the smooth staging of the AFCON.
“These tournaments represent a historic milestone for Kenya, demonstrating our commitment to sports excellence, infrastructural development and advancement of Kenya in the continental football space,” he said.
“To achieve these goals, the government has adopted a multi-sectoral approach to stage a successful event by involving key stakeholders such as the Kenya Football Federation (FKF), Ministries of Defence, Interior, Tourism and Diaspora alongside sector partners.”
In addition, the Sports CS noted that construction works on the key stadiums set to be used for CHAN and AFCON were progressing on well.
Which Kenyan stadiums will host CHAN?
He explained that the Talanta Sports City and Moi Sports Centre Kasarani will be used for the championship.
Nyayo, Ulinzi and Police Sacco stadiums are earmarks as venues for training for teams featuring in CHAN.
He added that the CHAN Local Organising Committee composed of professionals from sports administration, events management, security and media among others will push for actualisation of the dream to host the championships.
FKF president Hussein Mohammed who separately appeared before the Committee said the new team was undertaking reforms in the football body aimed at breathing a new life into the sector.
FKF’s pending bills
He explained that the Federation has contacted relevant institutions to conduct a forensic audit of the Ksh 400 million pending bills they inherited from their predecessor.
This after the MPs led by Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Robert Basil (Yatta) and Stephen Mule ( Matungulu) demanded to know the action FKF will take to deal with financial mismanagement by the previous regime.
“Are you going to forgive and forget or you will deal with people who swindled funds meant to support football development,” posed Omondi.
“How long will it take you to pay the pending bills left by the former boss…service providers are suffering due to delay in settling their debts,” added Mule.
