CHAN 2024: CAF Reveals Security Gaps That Could Cost East Africa Its Big Moment

Sometimes, ambitious dreams come wrapped in logistical headaches—and that is the story unfolding around CHAN 2024, the African Nations Championship set to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Dubbed Pamoja—the Swahili word for “together”—this marks the first time a continental football tournament will be held across three East African nations. But unity in ambition hasn’t quite translated to uniformity in preparation.

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The tournament, scheduled for August, has already seen one postponement due to delays in infrastructure development and stadium readiness. While each host nation has made progress, Kenya appears to be lagging slightly behind its neighbours.

“Uganda we can play yesterday, Tanzania we can play tomorrow, Kenya we can play tomorrow,” said Confederation of African Football (CAF) general secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba during a visit to Nairobi on Wednesday as per BBC.

“In Kenya I have seen training pitches ready, changing rooms ready, stadium seats put in place. They have to keep the momentum. If they stop momentum, we don’t want CHAN to be here.”

Kenya’s preparations have been overshadowed by concerns over crowd control and stadium security—issues that came into sharp focus in March when fans broke into Nyayo National Stadium during a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Gabon.

The breach raised red flags, especially as it was the Harambee Stars' first home game in nearly two years.

Mosengo-Omba acknowledged the incident, calling it both “understandable” and “not acceptable.”

To mitigate future issues, CAF has launched training courses for police officers and federation members in Kenya, focusing on handling stadium and crowd security.

“We’ve launched courses to train policemen, because the way that you manage security in the crowd in the stadium and outside the stadium are different,” Mosengo-Omba said.

“We will continue until the end of CHAN and AFCON ”

These proactive steps reflect CAF's broader aim to elevate the security standards not just for CHAN 2024, but also ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which the same trio of nations will co-host.

In Kenya, the spotlight is on two stadiums—Kasarani, with a 60,000 capacity, and Nyayo, which can host 22,000 fans. While both are being prepared, it’s Nyayo that has raised the most concern among CAF inspectors.

“The biggest infrastructural set-backs so far are things like the perimeter wall in Nyayo, which should be ready by end of this month,” said Mike Rabar, CEO of Kenya’s local organising committee.

“That is why Caf is not 100% giving us go ahead. There are small things.”

He added that stadium entry points must be fitted with turnstiles to manage fan traffic more effectively, an area that proved vulnerable during the Kenya-Gabon match.

Despite successful e-ticketing measures, Rabar admits that weak infrastructure allowed for crowd control failures.

“Of course, there was infringement from weak infrastructure around the stadium. Those are the spaces we want to focus on,” he noted.

CAF President Patrice Motsepe is expected to revisit the region soon to evaluate progress—seen by many as a final checkpoint before the tournament kicks off.

Meanwhile, the three governments have committed a combined budget of $39 million for the championship and are exploring the introduction of a ‘Pamoja visa’ to ease travel and logistics across borders.

Tax exemptions for imported sports equipment are also under consideration.

“What is pending are small things like [computer] connectivity, power issues, communications,” Rabar said.

“CAF has set very high standards for us so we are trying to see how do we meet these standards and make sure that by the time we get to the first week of July we can host a game comfortably.”

CHAN 2024 may be testing the spirit of pamoja, but the clock is ticking—and all eyes are on East Africa to deliver.