Parliament rejects proposal to increase 2027 AFCON budget
By Joel Masibo, February 20, 2026The National Assembly Committee on Sports and Culture has rejected a proposal by the Sports Ministry to increase its budget allocation for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
This is even as it emerged that Kenya is yet to pay the mandatory Ksh3.5 billion hosting fee to secure its role in the continental tournament.
The National Assembly Committee on Sports and Culture, chaired by Webuye West Member of Parliament Dan Wanyama, on Thursday, February 19, 2026, dismissed the Ministry’s request to raise the hosting budget from Ksh3.5 billion to Ksh.5 billion, terming the justification inadequate.
Budget allocation
“In fact, you should be cutting down your budget because the championship is being hosted by three states. Your push for an enhanced allocation should not be based on a country that single-handedly hosted AFCON,” Wanyama said.
The committee’s firm stance came as the Principal Secretary for Sports, Elijah Mwangi, disclosed that Kenya has not remitted the Ksh3.5 billion required by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) due to a lack of funds.
Kenya is set to co-host the 2027 tournament alongside Uganda and Tanzania under the Pamoja bid. According to the PS, the two partner states have already complied with CAF’s payment requirements.
“Uganda and Tanzania, who are our co-hosts, have already complied by paying the required fee to secure the hosting rights,” Mwangi told the committee during deliberations on the 2026 Budget Policy Statement.
The Sports Ministry had sought the committee’s intervention to have the Ksh3.5 billion included in a supplementary budget to enable Kenya meet its obligations and avoid jeopardising its standing with CAF.
In defending the proposed budget increment, Mwangi said he had led a delegation, including officials from Football Kenya, on a benchmarking visit during the last AFCON tournament in Morocco.
“We established that for Kenya to match the standards set during the competition in Morocco, we must enhance the budget,” he said.
However, MPs maintained that Kenya’s financial commitment must reflect the shared nature of the tournament.
He insisted that co-hosting with two other countries should ease the fiscal burden. Despite rejecting the proposed increment, the committee assured the Ministry of its support in engaging the National Treasury to release the required hosting fee.
Budget policy
According to the Budget Policy Statement, the proposed ceiling for the Sports Department in the 2026/27 financial year stands at Ksh25.49 billion, comprising Ksh7.38 billion for recurrent expenditure and Ksh18.11 billion for development.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), alongside the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and officials from the Ministry of Sports, has been conducting inspections at venues and training facilities earmarked for the continental showpiece in Kenya.