Shame of not hosting CHAN championships

Excitement among Kenyans over the possibility of hosting the prestigious 2018 African Nations Championships (CHAN) was rudely curtailed when the rights were withdrawn by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) over the lack of preparedness that CAF's inspectorate team found in Kenya.

Failure to be able to host the 2018 CHAN competition is an indictment on the Sports ministry, which has spectacularly failed to distinguish itself under the stewardship of Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario.

From the shambolic handling of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the view of many is that something needed to be done at the ministry.

No sanctions were raised against those who brought agony to our world-beating champions, nor to those who have shown that they could go to great lengths to shame our country.

And now this shaming denial of hosting rights. The country deserves to be told what went wrong. The Government had prior knowledge of the championships timelines and the threshold for successful bidding yet waited until last week to approve Sh4.2 billion for renovation work.

It could also be a time to question the lofty plans by politicians aspiring for office. State-of-the-art stadiums was one such promise made by the Jubilee coalition in 2013, and which formed the basis for the bidding.

Not too long ago, deputy president William Ruto stared Kenyans in the face and averred the stadiums would be ready in good time. What happened? Did the UhuRuto duo hoodwink Kenyans? Who dropped the ball?