Mvurya: We are ready to host Afcon

CS for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports, Salim Mvurya, before the Senate plenary at the Senate Chambers, Parliament. March 25, 2026. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The government is committed to ensuring that the Sh3.9 billion hosting fee for the African Cup of Nations is paid on time in readiness for the soccer tournament to be hosted jointly by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda next year.

Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya told the Senate that his ministry is already working with the National Treasury and the requisite committees in Parliament to make sure that they comply with the financial obligations.

Mvurya said the facilities to be used for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament include the Talanta International Stadium, which is almost complete and the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

Nyayo National Stadium and Ulinzi Police Sacco grounds will be used as training grounds, together with other grounds around Kasarani.

“I want to assure the country that, in terms of infrastructure, we will make sure that we meet the compliance obligations. The Confederation of African Football were here in February to make an assessment and all the issues that they have identified will be addressed,” said Mvurya.

Nominated senator Betty Syengo sought to know the system used to identify talent in different counties, as the criteria used were not very clear. She asked the CS to clarify to the Senate how the identification is done.

Mvurya said the Kenya Academy of Sports works with schools and school associations and that the athletes are identified through the school competitions.

“We have a process that we will use to identify and train talented athletes picked through the school system. In some of the areas where we have low numbers, we will apply affirmative action from April. We have actually identified this as one of the challenges that we need to bring on board all other counties that are very low in talent uptake,” said Mvurya.

Nominated senator Catherine Mumma told the House that, in the past few years, there have been scandals involving sexual harassment of athletes by team managers and coaches in some federations. She sought to know what the Ministry has done to ensure that young athletes who travel abroad for competitions are not sexually harassed by those entrusted to accompany them.

Mvurya assured the House that they have set up a gender protection implementation committee, which is run by a chief executive officer and steering board members. The mandate of this committee, he said, is to investigate, research these issues and ensure that appropriate action is taken.

“What this committee has lately done is sensitisation in most of the counties so that the people who have this challenge know how to report so that enforcement is undertaken,” said Mvurya.

Migori senator Eddy Oketch sought to know if the Ministry was coordinating with that of Lands, Public Works and Housing, especially in areas that have been earmarked for upgrading of modern markets, as well as the Economic Stimulus Programme markets in areas that were previously being used for sporting facilities.

Mvurya said, for those specific cases, his Ministry comes in as a technical institution to ensure that the standards of sports are met, and, if it is at a location, normally, the responsibility of providing budget is also discussed with the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development.

“I want to assure this House that all federations representing the different sports disciplines normally present their budgets, which are then reviewed together and we agree on what is funded by the government and what is going to be funded by the private sector,” said Mvurya.