Don’t hold your breath on Kenya’s 2027 Afcon joint bid

To be honest, I do not know whether to laugh out loudly in despairing amusement, or shake my head gravely in resigned exasperation.

You may all have heard that Kenya, in conjunction with Tanzania and Uganda, will present a bid to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

Tuesday, May 23 is the deadline set by Confederation of African Football for all bids to be handed in officially.

The joint bid by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania is expected to compete with the individual ones of Algeria, Botswana and Egypt, who have all expressed interest in hosting the 24-nation continental football extravaganza.

No less than the President of Kenya William Ruto announced the “Pamoja Bid” at State House, Nairobi, on Monday following Cabinet approval on December 6.

Kenya has been here before – talking about, bidding for and even winning rights to host major sporting events -- only for the story to end in laughable failure.

The most damning was the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations. Kenya, then enjoying a football golden era, won the bid in 1993 to host the African jamboree which was, for the first time, set to feature an expanded 16 nations.

 But CAF withdrew the tournament from Kenya following lack of commitment from the government which dithered on building a new stadium in Mombasa for the tournament. It will be remembered that at that time the government, led by President Daniel arap Moi, was not cosy with the FKF leadership under opposition MP Job Omino.

Fast forward to the end of the last decade. Kenya again won the rights to host the 2018 African Nations Championships, popularly referred to by its acronym, Chan.

At that time, the government, under President Uhuru Kenyatta, had no problem working with the FKF head Nick Mwendwa.

The Kenyan bid had cited Nyayo Stadium, Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi, Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos and Kinoru Stadium in Meru as the designated host venues for the 16-country tournament.

But a frustrated CAF stripped Kenya of the hosting rights for the fifth edition of the tourney that is open to local-based players over a glaring lack of preparedness, and moved the tournament to Morocco.

Kenya has also shown lofty but ultimately hopeless ambitions to host major sporting events.

In 2005 during the official opening of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) headquarters at Upper Hill in Nairobi, then Sports Minister Ochilo Ayacko stunned Kenyans and the world by announcing that the country would bid to host the Olympic Games.

That announcement was made in the presence of the visiting International Olympic Committee president then Jacque Rogge, who – the diplomat that he was -- sufficiently recovered from his shock to say that the IOC would support Kenya’s bid.

Also present was Raila Odinga, who in August 2012 in London, as the country’s Prime Minister, announced that Kenya would begin the process of putting together a bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

That proclamation was picked up by the major world news networks including Reuters and BBC, no doubt deeply interested in the prospect of an Olympic Games going to Africa for the first time in history.

Nothing much was heard after that, and that flight in fancy quietly died a natural death.

“We also intend to launch a compelling bid that will succeed in winning us this critical opportunity to make Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania the epicenters of regional and continental footballing resurgence,” said President Ruto when he received the 2027 Afcon co-bid.

Why do countries bid to host big sporting events? The most compelling reason is to portray soft power, that is, for nations to showcase their ability to organise such big events and favourably advertise themselves to the rest of the world.

It is the reason many third world countries have bid to host mega events such as the Fifa World Cup, Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games etc, never mind the astronomical economic costs that leave many questioning why the resources could not have been directed elsewhere.

Why would hard up Kenya, without a single existing stadium that meets, not even Fifa, but CAF minimum standards want to prioritize hosting the 2027 Afcon over, say, improving sports governance and infrastructure.

As late as February this year, CAF informed the federation that none of Kenya’s best stadiums met their standards. Kenya’s bid to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships failed because the designated venue, MISC, simply could not fit the bill.

CS Ababu Namwamba has fancifully talked about a “sports infrastructure development masterplan” without giving any details in terms of costs, projects, sites and timelines.

I would well remind Kenyans of the much vaunted but now seemingly abandoned President Kibaki’s “Vision 2030” that included a sports development strategy.

It had three flagship projects: The construction of 30 regional sports stadiums countrywide, the establishment of a sports lottery fund and an international sports academy.

The Jubilee government that swept to power in 2013 promised in its manifesto the construction of five ultra-modern stadiums.

Not a single new stadium has been constructed. Our two best facilities, 60 years after independence, remain the aging MISC, opened in 1987 and the rudimentary Nyayo Stadium, opened in 1983.

What new, world-class infrastructure will be set up by 2027 considering our history?

The people behind this joint bid have their work cut out for them. I wish them Godspeed, but I am not holding my breath.