President William Ruto has assured Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o that Kisumu will host some Africa Cup of Nations matches in 2027.
This is after Nyong’o and his Kakamega counterpart Fernandez Barasa raised concerns over the proposed venues of the 2027 Afcon games.
Speaking on Monday, Ruto acknowledged the county bosses' concerns the games.
Kenya won the joint bid to host the continental showcase alongside her East African neighbours Uganda and Tanzania.
The government had initially said the games would only be held in Nairobi and Eldoret.
But Ruto said the tournament's games will be spread across the country and the same replicated in future regional and continental games.
"We should agree on how we are going to host all the tournaments that we have starting from Afcon to Cecafa and all the others and to spread all the facilities across Kenya," Ruto said.
"I know Governor Anyang Nyong'o is on record as making his position known as to where is the place of Kisumu in hosting this facility."
The President spoke on Monday during the launch of Uhuru II vessel at the Kisumu Shipyard pier.
"I want to confirm to you professor that we have taken into account the place of Kisumu in hosting at least some of the tournaments that we have spread across the country," the President said.
Initially, the government said three stadia, including Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani and Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi and the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret in Uasin Gishu county would be renovated in readiness for 2027 Afcon matches.
Nyong'o and Barasa, however, took issue with the arrangement and expressed fear that the Cup of Nations matches would be played in empty stadia.
They strongly opined that Eldoret is known for athletics while Nyanza and Western Kenya is the bedrock of football talent and best placed to host the games.
"This means the Afcon matches will be played in empty stadia with very little impact," the county governors said in a joint statement on October 1.
They strongly felt politics had played part in the government sidelining their regions.
"The decision by the UDA government may be denying the Western region the opportunity to host the games because we are not shareholders in the Kenya Kwanza Company Limited," they said.
Recently, Coast football stakeholders also joined the race to push for the 2027 Afcon matches to be staged in Mombasa.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) National Executive Council member, representing the Coast region, Gabriel Mghendi. said they are ready to speak to counties willing to host such football matches.
“I have faith we will get more stadia ready before the tournament,” Mghendi said.
He said talks between the Mombasa County Government, the national government and the federation are ongoing to have the Mombasa Stadium ready to host some of the matches.
The stadium has been closed for renovation for over a decade now with works painstakingly slow.
Tanzania picked Benjamin Mkapa and Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar while Uganda picked Nelson Mandela and Nakivubo Stadium.
