Kenyan government eyes 2017 Africa Cup of Nations
26 Oct 2012
Kenya’s Minister for Youth and Sports Ababu Namwamba has stated the country is seeking to join forces with neighbours Uganda and Tanzania to bid to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
Namwamba said that negotiations for the joint bid will start during next month’s Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Cup, which is being hosted in Kampala, Uganda. “During next month’s CECAFA championships, I intend to meet my two counterparts from Uganda and Tanzania with a view of placing our bids to jointly host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations,” said Namwamba, according to Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation.
After years of failing to attract sporting events, Kenya is making a concerted investment in infrastructure and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in August outlined the capital city of Nairobi is preparing an ambitious bid to stage Africa’s first Olympic Games in 2024. Namwamba expressed his regret that a failure to invest in sporting facilities had prevented Kenya from making bids to host major continental championships since the country staged the 1987 All Africa Games.
He added: “It is regrettable that we have not been able to make bids to host major continental championships due to the poor sporting facilities. We need to heavily invest in sporting infrastructure to put us in a better position to host events of higher magnitude.”
