An excavator ploughing the pitch at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County on May 24, 2025.
With just over two months to go before the kickoff of the delayed 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan), Kenya is still lagging behind in its preparations to co-host the tournament alongside Uganda and Tanzania.
Chan is a biennial football competition reserved for players competing in their domestic leagues. This year’s edition, which has attracted 19 teams including the host nations, is scheduled to take place from August 2 to 30.
Despite assurances from Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman Nicholas Musonye that Kenya is on track, Nation Sport has learned that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) inspection team, which visited the country last week, was left unimpressed by the pace and state of preparations.
The CAF delegation was led by the federation’s Third Vice President, Pierre Alain Mounguengui.
Speaking to Nation Sport, Musonye admitted that Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County—one of the designated training venues—remains a major concern.
“The only challenge we are facing is the Kirigiti training venue, but we hope it will be ready for use by the end of July,” Musonye said on Monday.
He also dismissed reports that the CAF delegation flagged the state of pitches at the competition venues.
As for the main match venues—Nyayo National Stadium and Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani—Musonye expressed confidence that they would be ready before the tournament kicks off.
“There are minor areas our specialists are working on to ensure they (Nyayo and MISC) are 100 per cent perfect,” he said.
Ulinzi Sports Complex, Police Sacco Stadium, and the two pitches at Kasarani have also been designated as training venues.
Big jokers on earth
However, a source who was part of last week’s inspection tour told Nation Sport that the CAF delegation was disappointed with the current state of readiness.
“These guys (the CAF delegation) think that we are big jokers on earth,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation due to lack of authorisation to speak to the media.
A CAF officer inspects the grass at Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani in Nairobi on May 24, 2025.
“How can we say that we are on the right track when we have caterpillars on the pitch still leveling the ground? They 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, because the grass takes two months to be compact and ready for use” the source added.
The source said the CAF team expected Kenya to be applying final touches at this stage—not engaging in major construction.
“The conditions of the pitches do not look so bad, but they (the CAF team) feel that they can be better,” the source said, adding that of all the training venues, only Ulinzi Sports Complex was nearing readiness. The rest were found to be behind schedule, with major works like floodlight installation still pending.
“Floodlights have yet to be installed in all the other training grounds and that is a major concern to the CAF team. It needs a lot of work,” said the source.
Lack of funds
At Nyayo Stadium, a perimeter wall is under construction, while at MISC, the pending works include installation of floodlights, giant screens, and LED boards.
According to the source, lack of funds is a major reason for the delays.
Workers at Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County on My 24, 2025.
“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 works,” the source revealed.
Chan was scheduled for September last year, then postponed to February 1–28 this year, and later to August 2–30.
However, Sports CS Salim Mvurya has defended Kenya’s readiness to co-host the championship.
“I have seen in social media when people say that Kenya is not ready to host the game. 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,” said Mvurya at Raila Odinga Stadium in Homa Bay County on Monday.
He said the government has already made significant investments in sports infrastructure, particularly at Nyayo and Kasarani.
“We have already paid Sh1.6 billion hosting fee. All the other processes are normal to ensure we are in tandem with the progress of making sure that Kenya hosts Chan,” he added.
Raila Odinga Stadium, which has been undergoing renovation and expansion ahead of the Madaraka Day celebrations on June 1, was handed over to Sports Kenya. It will host the ‘Mashemeji’ derby on June 2.
Additional reporting by George Odiwuor
