Former Sports CS Warns Hussein Mohamed and McDonald Mariga Ahead of AFCON 2027: 'Wrangling Will Rob Us'

Former Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Sports, and the Arts Ababu Namwamba has issued a stern call to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Hussein Mohamed and Vice President McDonald Mariga, urging them to resolve internal leadership disputes and safeguard Kenya's preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Speaking in an interview with Sporty FM, the former Sports Minister warned that persistent administrative friction threatens to derail national hosting preparations and undermine the country's domestic football ecosystem ahead of the historic co-hosted continental showpiece.

Namwamba addressed the current FKF leadership directly, urging Mohamed and Mariga to set aside personal and administrative conflicts to focus on the broader national objective of hosting a successful tournament.

Expressing concern over ongoing instability within the federation, Namwamba stated: “My message to FKF: please get your act together. There's too much at stake. Right now, it should be all hands on deck for AFCON 2027. We should be preparing the best atmosphere possible. So please, just all these wrangles.

“And you're a team that came into office just the other day. You looked like a very good team. You looked like a solid team. You looked like you had a good plan for Kenyan football. Please put aside your differences. My friend Hussein, my friend McDonald Mariga, put aside your differences and focus on this big agenda."

Drawing comparisons to neighbouring football federations across the region, Ababu Namwamba highlighted the unified administrative fronts established by co-hosts Uganda and Tanzania.

Reflecting on his interactions with regional sports leaders, including Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) officials in Kampala, Namwamba pointed out that rival administrative structures in neighbouring states are actively organising their operations to maximise tournament delivery.

"I am in Kampala now. I interact with my friend Obuwa and his team at FUFA. And you can see a solid team. When you go to Tanzania and the team there, you see a solid team that is focusing on delivering AFCOT. Please let us see the same thing in Nairobi,” Ababu Namwamba said.

“Because these distractions are going to sap our energy. They are going to undermine our performance as a country. And we cannot afford to have our neighbours have one over us. Because we really want to deliver this. We don't want it to be said that Uganda, Tanzania did better than Kenya. We can't afford that."

Namwamba reiterated Kenya's leadership role in formulating the joint East African bidding strategy. Having originally conceptualised a standalone bid before introducing the multi-nation co-hosting framework, he emphasised that Kenya's pioneer position in the 'Pamoja Bid' must be protected through stable governance.

Detailing the origin of the joint regional initiative, Namwamba explained: "And the whole idea of Pamoja bid was born here. Actually, initially, I had prepared a bid just for Kenya. Before we decided, okay, in the spirit of East African integration, let us pull in our neighbours. And then the whole Pamoja thing has worked very well. It has worked very well as we prepare.

“I used to chair the committee of ministers of the three countries to prepare when we went to Cairo to push for the award of the hosting rights. We went together as the three ministers under my leadership. So Kenya has been the leader. So Kenya must continue to provide this leadership, but wrangling will rob us of that leadership role."

Beyond international tournament logistics, Namwamba emphasised that a well-run domestic league, the FKF Premier League, serves as the fundamental building block for a competitive national team and a successful host nation.

Warning against administrative delays or disruptions to the local football calendar, Namwamba concluded. "And our national league, the Kenya Premier League, would be the perfect platform to start preparing the country for AFCON. So we cannot afford a scenario where our league is not running as it should be," he said.