Kenya’s preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations have run into fresh turbulence after Parliament declined a request by the Ministry of Sports to nearly double its hosting budget. The National Assembly Committee on Sports and Culture turned down a proposal to raise the allocation from Sh3.5 billion to Sh7.5 billion, dealing a setback to the ministry’s financial roadmap for the continental tournament.
The 36th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations will be jointly staged by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in June and July 2027. During a session reviewing the 2026 Budget Policy Statement, the committee — chaired by Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama — ruled that the ministry had not presented sufficient grounds to justify the additional Sh4 billion. Legislators argued that sharing hosting duties with two partner nations should significantly reduce Kenya’s financial obligations.
Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi had defended the proposed increment, citing lessons drawn from a benchmarking visit to Morocco, which hosted the 2025 Afcon. According to Mwangi, matching the organisational standards witnessed there would require enhanced funding to cover critical areas such as security operations, emergency medical services, volunteer coordination and event logistics. However, lawmakers maintained that the comparison with a single-host tournament was misplaced.
Even as it rejected the expanded budget, the committee pledged to support efforts to secure Sh3.5 billion from the National Treasury to settle the mandatory hosting rights fee payable to the Confederation of African Football (Caf). The payment, due in April, is considered essential to safeguard Kenya’s role in the tri-nation arrangement. Uganda and Tanzania have already remitted their respective contributions.
Under the current Budget Policy Statement, the Sports Department has been allocated a ceiling of Sh25.49 billion for the 2026/27 financial year, comprising Sh7.38 billion for recurrent spending and Sh18.11 billion for development projects. The ministry had sought to include the Afcon hosting fee in a supplementary budget to avoid straining its existing allocations. With Parliament standing firm, Kenya’s Afcon ambitions now hinge on careful fiscal navigation and timely Treasury intervention.
