NAIROBI, Kenya, July 16, 2025 – Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya has warned against vandalism of sports infrastructures by fans at next month’s Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) in Nairobi.
Tuya says a lot of money has been invested in renovating the Kasarani and Nyayo Stadiums, hence the need for fans to behave responsibly at the month-long event.
“It is a moment to also implore on our Kenyan sports fans that in the same spirit…the incidents we often see of vandalism…extreme celebration that cause destruction of the same infrastructure we have built…we should not see those incidents again,” she said.
The Ministry of Defence, through the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), were responsible for the facelift of the two venues ahead of the continental competition.
Kasarani is set to host all of Harambee Stars’ Group A matches as is the case for Nyayo, which will also stage the Group C encounter between Niger and Algeria.
The two venues are also set to be at the centre stage of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which will be co-hosted with Uganda and Tanzania.
Tuya noted that KDF is committed to ensuring all the venues are ready to host the biennial competition, come 2027.
“As the Ministry of Defence, we are going to deliver CHAN…we are going to deliver Afcon. Through support of the Sports Ministry, we are going to ensure that our sports facilities are up to the standards required for these tournaments,” the CS said.
She was speaking on Wednesday during the official handover of the Nyayo Stadium to the local organising committee (LOC) for CHAN and Afcon.
Speaking at the same time, Sports CS Salim Mvurya urged Kenyans to turn up in numbers at both stadia to witness the entertainment on the pitch.
“We had the chance to host Afcon in 1996 but we couldn’t…again we tried in 2018 and we didn’t succeed. So, this year’s competition is a historic occasion and so we want to mobilise every Kenyan to go to the stadia. That’s why we have kept the tickets at very low prices,” Mvurya said.
He expressed hope that the success of CHAN will feed into preparations for Afcon 2027.
The tournament begins on August 1 in Tanzania, with Kenya coming into action two days later with their opening match against Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the Kasarani Stadium.
