AFCON 2025: Four Kenyan Referees Selected for Continental Tournament in Morocco

Four Kenyan referees have made the list of 101 match officials selected to officiate at AFCON 2025.

Four Kenyan referees are among 101 match officials selected to officiate at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

The continental tournament will take place between December 21, 2025 and January 18, 2026 in Morocco and the four will have different roles.

Peter Waweru Kamaku will be among the centre referees at AFCON 2025 while Dickens Mimisa will serve as one of the Video Assistant Referees (VAR). Meanwhile, experienced duo Gilbert Cheruiyot and Stephen Yiembe will be among the assistant referees at AFCON 2025.

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The referees are not new to this stage as Kamaku, Yiembe and Cheruiyot are among highly-rated African referees who have officiated in the CAF Champions League on numerous occasions as well as the Africa Cup of Nations and Olympics.

Yiembe was also at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in June, having been the only East African referee selected for the tournament.

Kamaku Has Excelled on and Off the Pitch

Kamaku was also involved in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers including Egypt’s match against Burkina Faso in June.

Since becoming a FIFA-listed referee in 2017, Kamaku’s career has seen him oversee key fixtures in international tournaments, including the AFCON under-20 in 2019, the 2019 AFCON in Egypt, the 2019 Under-17 World Cup in Brazil, and the intense 2021 CHAN tournament final between Morocco and Mali.

Beyond his refereeing, Kamaku is also a respected academic holding a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Pure Mathematics and serving as a senior lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

Referees’ performances will be one of the most scrutinized at AFCON given the tournament has now attracted global appeal and after an incident-free 2023 edition, pressure is on to ensure 2025 is the same or even better.