Kirigiti Stadium: A Costly White Elephant That Continues to Embarrass Kenya’s AFCON Ambitions

As Kenya races against time to prepare for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), one facility stands out as a painful reminder of how public resources can be wasted through neglect, poor planning, and lack of accountability.

Kirigiti Stadium in Kiambu County, once touted as a modern sports facility and even listed among the training venues for AFCON 2027, remains largely unplayable despite consuming an estimated KSh 600 million of taxpayers’ money.

With a capacity of approximately 16,000 spectators, Kirigiti was envisioned as one of Kenya’s flagship sporting venues. Yet, more than five years after major investments were made, the stadium continues to fall short of even the basic standards required for competitive football.

Perhaps the most shocking reality is that some of the dressing rooms have reportedly been converted into living spaces. Even the playing surface has had basic pitch-dimension issues. It is difficult to comprehend how a stadium that has consumed hundreds of millions of shillings has never hosted a competitive football match.

This was a facility earmarked for CHAN and AFCON preparations. Instead, it has become a monument to unfinished business and poor management.

The timing could not be worse.

With Kasarani Stadium closed for AFCON-related works and uncertainty surrounding the availability of Nyayo Stadium, Kenya could soon face a shortage of suitable venues for FKF Premier League matches. Yet, despite this looming challenge, Kirigiti remains underutilized and unprepared to host top-flight football.

The same concern applies to Mamboleo Stadium in Kisumu.

One would expect the Ministry of Sports to have prioritised making facilities such as Kirigiti fully playable long before the current venue crisis emerged. Instead, football stakeholders are once again being forced to raise questions over issues that have been visible for years.

Kirigiti has reportedly been over 90 percent complete for the last five years. What is shameful is that a facility supposedly almost complete can remain unusable for so long.

Surely, this demands answers.

And if we are not careful, one day we will wake up to find traders occupying the stadium.

That may sound extreme, but the experience of Kinoru Stadium in Meru should be a warning. The prolonged challenges surrounding Kinoru are another shameful reminder of what happens when public sporting facilities are built without a clear plan for completion, management, maintenance and utilisation.

If the many stadiums currently being constructed across the country eventually suffer the same fate as Kinoru, then Kenya has a very serious problem on its hands.

The issue goes beyond Kirigiti.

It raises questions about our obsession with branding facilities as "international stadiums" without ensuring that they actually meet the standards associated with that title. Kirigiti should simply be called Kirigiti Stadium until it can consistently host competitive and international football.

The same argument applies to several other facilities across the country, including Mamboleo Stadium.

A stadium does not become international because of a signboard, a political launch or a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It earns that status through quality infrastructure, proper maintenance and the ability to regularly host competitive matches.

More importantly, Kenya needs to rethink how the Sports Ministry is managed.

It is high time we had serious, competent people heading the Ministry of Sports — people with a genuine understanding of sports development, infrastructure, administration and the business of sport, rather than appointments made primarily to balance political equations.

There have been ministers and Cabinet Secretaries who have occupied the docket, but very few have left a lasting mark on Kenya's sporting infrastructure and development. Ababu Namwamba may well have been among the last Cabinet Secretaries to bring a strong sense of focus and seriousness to the Sports docket. Since his departure, there has been little to write home about.

This is not about personalities or politics. It is about competence and results.

Kenya cannot continue investing hundreds of millions of shillings in sporting infrastructure only for facilities to become white elephants. Every new stadium must have a clear completion timeline, a professional management structure, a maintenance budget and a utilisation plan.

As AFCON 2027 approaches, Kirigiti Stadium presents the Ministry of Sports with an opportunity to prove its critics wrong.

The facility has the capacity, location and potential to serve domestic football and, with the necessary upgrades, continental competitions. What it lacks is urgent intervention, accountability and a clear plan.

If the authorities are serious about addressing Kenya's shortage of quality football venues, Kirigiti and Mamboleo should become immediate priorities — while the lessons from Kinoru must inform the construction and management of every new stadium being built across the country.

Kenyans deserve better.

Taxpayers deserve accountability.

And Kirigiti Stadium deserves to finally become the football venue it was promised to be.

We must stop making jokes with public resources and start delivering sporting facilities that Kenyans can actually use.