Govenors from two counties in Western Kenya have raised questions and concerns over the venues for hosting of the Africa Cup of Nations in the three East African countries in 2027.
The Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o and his Kakamega counterpart gave a joint statement on Sunday.
The UDA led government had announced that the AFCON 2027 football matches shall be held in Nairobi and Eldoret.
According to the Governors, this in their view is a tragic decision.
They said Western Kenya should have been included with either matches being held in Kisumu or Kakamega.
The Governors noted that the Western region of Kenya is where football fans exist in plenitude and not in Uashin Gishu, or Eldoret for that matter.
“The success of the matches will be on the turn up at the stadia where the matches will be held.Eldoret has athletes and athletic fans in millions. But not soccer. And that is the naked truth”, the statement read in parts
They further stated that due to the above, the Afcon matches will be played in empty stadia with very little impact.
The Governors noted that the decision by the UDA government may be denying the Western region the opportunity to host the games because they are not shareholders in the Kenya Kwanza Company limited.
” That would be extremely myopic as the President was representing the Republic of Kenya when he teamed with our colleagues in the East African Community.Coming back home, he seems to have changed the goal post. That’s unfortunate”.
They noted that their neighbors who are cohosting the tournament with Kenya, under the PAMOJA proposal, have each chosen three venues namely: Uganda-Kampala, Lira and Hoima; Tanzania-Dar e Salaam, Zanzibar and Arusha wondering why the same cant be done in Kenya.
The Governor further noted that there is still time to reconsider the decision because the people of Western Kenya are waiting.
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