Construction of training pitches begins at Talanta Stadium

Speaking during a comprehensive inspection tour of the facility on Tuesday, the CS confirmed that the stadium is in its final touches to meet the standards set by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

As a major milestone in accelerating the works, CS Mvurya officially handed over two training pitches to the Ministry of Defence to kick start immediate construction.

This brings the total number of specialised training grounds at the facility to three. The development is part of a deliberate strategy by the Ministry to engage CAF early and ensure all infrastructural components comply with international tournament guidelines before the final inspection.

The Cabinet Secretary noted that the progress has been remarkably smooth since his last inspection early in the year.

“My visit today is a continuation, just a follow-up visit. A visit that I did here in January, and I promised that we will be engaging the CAF so that we can have the requirements beforehand.

“And generally from this visit, I'm very happy with the progress that has happened, because this is going to be one of the main grounds for AFCON 2027. And as we gear up the preparations, I want to confirm to Kenyans that we are in good progress to the preparation of AFCON 2027.”

The CS elaborated that Kenya has moved past initial administrative hurdles, including clearing tournament hosting fees, and is now fully immersed in actualizing world-class infrastructure.

The training pitches are expected to take about two months to be fully complete. Additionally, the infrastructure will incorporate multiple athletic functions, including a standard running track and a pavilion capable of hosting 1,500 fans.

Beyond the playing surface, the site has seen immense utility updates. A one-million-litre water tank has already been put in place to secure enough water supply, alongside ongoing civil works on perimeter walls and access roads.

The CS revealed that the remaining internal work is now more of mechanical and electrical installations, alongside grass nurturing.

Addressing the nation's broader readiness, Mvurya highlighted that similar stadium overhauls, including complete pitch replacements, are concurrently underway at the Kasarani Stadium. To maintain daily momentum and ensure the end-of-July completion target for main stadium works is met, a technical team including a CAF official and the AFCON Local Organizing Committee (LOC) led by Nicholas Musonye has been stationed on-site.

Underscoring the government's commitment to delivering a flawless tournament, CS Mvurya concluded:

“Away from having paid the hosting fee, we have now seriously embarked on preparing our infrastructure, we want to assure Kenyans we will continue to update them on how preparations are going. But in short, we are preparing very well. We have paid the required fee, we have set up the committee that is dealing with the planning, and we are also continuing with the infrastructure."