FOOTBALL Redefining Nyayo Stadium: the renovations, and path to ready it for AFCON 2027

Built to host the All Africa games, can Nyayo Stadium make more history by hosting the 2027 AFCON after renovation?

Over the next few weeks, Pulse Sports will be running a series of all the stadia proposed to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations as part of the East Africa Pamoja Bid launched by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.

The Nyayo National Stadium was Kenya’s first ever real sports complex constructed during the regime of the second president, Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi. 

Named after Moi’s “Nyayo” philosophy (of Love, peace, and unity amongst Kenyans), the arena’s historical relevance and impact on Kenyan sporting and political events cannot be gainsaid.

The stadium was designed by architect and politician George Nyanja on President Moi’s orders in a bid to position Kenya as a powerhouse to host regional and international events.

In this article, we will find out about a brief history of the stadium, the renovation works that were made to it when it was closed in 2017 and officially reopened in 2020, why CAF deemed it not fit for purpose, and what will be done to it to make it reach FIFA and potentially, AFCON 2027 standards.

A brief history of Nyayo National Stadium

The stadium is a multi-purpose one in Nairobi, Kenya. It is located between the square of Mombasa Road, Langata Road, and the Aerodrome Road now Douglas Wakiihuri Road.

Built in 1983, it was meant to host a capacity of up to 30,000 fans. Although it serves as one of the home ground Harambee Stars use to play international matches, it also hosts other matches, including Premier League and Continental matches.

AFC Leopards play most of its home games at Nyayo Stadium. The facility is also used for athletics, considering it has a track, and is also used for various ceremonies, such as the national holiday celebrations. 

Other facilities at the Nyayo Stadium include a gymnasium and a 50-meter swimming pool.

The completion of the stadium gave Kenya the opportunity to be placed in the category of nations that were invited to bid for the 4th All-Africa Games in 1987.

Kenya would win that bid, which essentially allowed for the county to construct the Moi International Sports Center, Kasarani. Nyayo Stadium gave rise to the sports complex located in Kasarani (more of this stadium in a second article). 

Both hosted the All Africa Games in 1987 and have since hosted several different competitions, such as the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup and the2010 African Championships in Athletics, where Kenya bagged 25 medals.

What happened to the first renovations?

Kenya won the bid to host the 2018 African Championship of Nations (CHAN) in 2016. This means that renovations had to commence to ensure Kenya would be ready to host the tournament within two years.

Renovations on the stadium commenced in 2017 with plans to upgrade it to a world-class facility in preparation for hosting the 2018 CHAN.

Kenya was however stripped of its bid as slow progress on the stadium and others were not complete by the time the championship was to kick off.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) were not impressed with the slow progress and transferred the hosting rights to Morocco.

By the time the stadium was being reopened in 2020, changes had been made, but at the same time, there were question marks about what was really being done over the four-year period that the facility had been closed.

What were the fresh new looks?

For a start, it had a fresh new look with seats fitted on the terraces, a drastic improvement from how it looked before. Fans had been accustomed to seating in the slabs which had been repainted in 2015. 

For the better part of 30 years, the slabs were unpainted, resembling an abandoned construction site. 

The player’s locker rooms were also revamped, and there was some work done to make the VIP section for dignitaries decent. It is also important to note that there was a change to the barrier separating the track and pitch from the stands, as the old barbed-wired fence was replaced with a trench secured by metal bars.

However, nothing else really justified the Ksh650 million shillings worth of renovations.

The tartan track used by athletes was not relaid afresh. Nothing much was made to give the rest of the facilities at the ground a fresh outlook, from the swimming pool and the basketball gymnasium down to the handball and volleyball training courts.

The stadium was also to have a permanent canopy erected around it to protect fans from adverse weather conditions. This was not the case.

Worse still, There is no lighting of any kind at the Nyayo National Stadium, as the floodlights erected around the stadium are not functional.

What changes are expected to be made to the stadium?

Last week, Sports CS Ababu Namwamba said that Kasarani, Nyayo, and Eldoret’s Kipchoge Keino Stadium (the three stadia proposed to host the 2027 AFCON) would be closed, with contractors invited to bid for the renovation works.

However, Nyayo Stadium will still be opened temporarily to allow Kakamega Homeboyz to host its CAF Confederation Cup matches, as well as allow Harambee Stars to play their home games there.

In the short term, work has already commenced to make the pitch ready in time for Homeboyz’s clash with Lybia’s Al Hilal Benghazi on August 18.

“This is the only option we have (in the country), otherwise Kakamega (Homeboyz) will be forced to take their match to Tanzania and we don’t want that to happen,” Namwamba told the contractors while touring the venue.

“I don’t know what it will take you to have the venue ready for the Homeboyz match. Even if it means adding manpower to what you have now, I will support that, we need more equipment to do this work, we can’t use only one fork (jembe) to do the job, you need to add more and must finish this job.”

“How much time do we need to have the playing surface ready?” he posed a question which one of the contractors responded, “Within six days.”

 “I don’t want us to lose even a day of work here, it is extremely tight, very tight, and we have to play that Homeboyz match here, this pitch is also where Harambee Stars will play, and we should protect this pitch, we have to protect this pitch, ” Namwamba added.

"Are there works that should be made to ensure that the stadium will be ready to host the tournament?

For a start, a canopy has to be constructed around the stadium to ensure that fans are protected from adverse weather conditions.

The lighting system is set to be upgraded to 2000 lux capability. The facility is to be upgraded with a clinic that is fully equipped with everything required to help individuals who may face medical challenges during events.

The media booth and washrooms will also need some work.

When are the renovations set to be completed?

Namwamba set a deadline of 2025 as the time the stadium should be ready enough to meet CAF’s standards. He also insisted that whether Kenya wins the bid to host the AFCON or not, the stadium must meet international standards.

"With or without AFCON, we're determined to renovate our sporting facilities. We want to bid for other World competitions and we'll keep on attracting these top- level events.”