The government has expressed confidence on meeting key Confederation of African Football (CAF) deadlines in regards to hosting Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) next year.
The Principal Secretary in the State Department for Sports Elijah Mwangi said on Sunday that there was adequate time provided by CAF to Kenya to comply with key requirements chief among them the payment of Sh3.9 billion as requisite hosting fee.
“We have until the 30th March to pay the Sh3.9 billion AFCON hosting fee and I am glad that during our appearance before the Parliamentary Committee on Sports, we agreed to write and request treasury for that money in the supplementary,” he said.
“We don’t feel it is a big problem because the government has money. The issue is the money is not in our current budget. This being a supplementary period, we felt the money should be put in the supplementary budget.”
While giving a brief on the status of Kenya’s preparedness for AFCON, the PS stated that the discussions between the department and Parliamentary Committee on Sports and Culture resolved to write and request the National Treasury to allocate the money that will cater for AFCON hosting fee as a matter of priority.
"As Pamoja nations, Kenya placed a bid for hosting AFCON alongside Uganda and Tanzania. The latter two have already paid but Kenya has until March 30th to pay the required monies," clarified Mwangi insisting that the issue was not lack of money on the part of the government but the money not being in the current budget.
The PS has expressed confidence that when the supplementary budget was being approved, the money for AFCON will be in the budget, allying anxiety of Kenyans over AFCON 2027 stating that all CAF deadlines including payment of requisite hosting fee as well as other obligations will be met fully.
With this assurance coming just a day after the PS admitted before Parliament that his coffers were empty, now his message to Kenyans is to not worry as There is adequate time to get the money and pay before March 30th deadline.
