Musonye on Kenya's Afcon bid and the 2014 Cecafa that never was

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) was born in East Africa, and yet over the years the leadership of the African football body and the teams that dominate its tournaments seem to come mostly from the west and north of the continent. When did the rain start beating us?

Nation Sport writer David Kwalimwa interviewed one of the region’s pillars in CAF, Nicholas Musonye, on the sidelines of Afcon in the city of Bata in Equatorial Guinea on this and the standards of football in the region.

KWALIMWA: You are one of the few members of the CAF standing committees from East Africa that have been invited to organize Afcon in Guinea Equatorial. What is your take on the organisation?

MUSONYE: First of all, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the CAF executive for the bold steps to convince Equatorial Guinea to host this event.

You remember we had many difficulties last year.

Morocco withdrew with less than three months to the tournament and the dilemma was too huge to get a replacement in that short time.

However, CAF president Issa Hayatou used his influence in Africa to get the current host on board in early December. Working non-stop between December 7 to the kick-off on January 17 was not an easy task for such a small country.

They had to reconstruct two stadiums in Mongomo and Ebebiyin in the interior of the country and also renovate the stadiums in Bata and Malabo.

Massive resources were at the disposal of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to ensure that everything was done to host Africa.

In this kind of scenario you do not expect 100 per cent readiness. However, I personally commend Equatorial Guinea for the excellent work they have done.

You were here in 2012 when Equatorial Guinea and Gabon co-hosted the … Afcon tournament. What is your opinion of the people of this country.

First of all, the success of any nation or even an organisation depends on its leadership.

The president of Equatorial Guinea, (Teodoro Obiang) Nguema Mbasogo, is a strong man who makes firm decisions. I am a believer in strong leadership laced with some dictatorship.

In Africa, development is retarded because of too much democracy, where people criticize everything and run to the courts. It is not the same here. Here a decision is made from the high office and it must be implemented.

In some countries, people would have gone to court or to the streets to halt Afcon. But you can now see what the tournament has done to the country — opening up two new stadiums in Ebebiyin and Mongomo. You can also see the new superhighways across the country — cutting through forests and rivers. Africa still needs some form of measured dictatorship.

You were the first group of CAF organisers to arrive in Equatorial Guinea sometime in early January. What was the situation like?

The first group from CAF headquarters arrived in Malabo on January 3 while some of us co-ordinators and organisers of the event joined on January 7-8. We had to come early for obvious reasons.

First, as I have said before, the country was only confirmed as hosts in early December so they had no time to prepare as they had done in 2012. The LOC was virtually not in place and many things were not in the right position.

For instance, a lot of work was to be done in Ebebiyin and Mongomo — these are two small cities far away from the capital Malabo and the second largest city of Bata. People in Mongomo and Ebebiyin had never hosted any international event.

This was something very new to them and we had to do a lot of orientation and literally spent most of the time in the stadium to ensure that things are in place before kick-off. It was really difficult. But the good thing about Equatorial Guinea is that decisions are made and anyone who attempts to misbehave is punished.

You have said the tournament has opened up the country in terms of infrastructure. What exactly have you experienced since the time you spent a month here in 2012 and now three weeks this time round?

Well, in 2012, the country had six years to prepare as co-hosts with Gabon. And so they had time to mobilise human and financial resources. This time, a decision was made at once and there was no time to put all that together.

However, between 2012 and 2015, there is a lot that has happened in this country. The country, as you know, is virtually a forest with many rivers to cross. Despite all this, a lot of infrastructure has been built.

There is road construction every day linking small towns and even neighbouring countries like Gabon and Cameroon. Connecting Bata-Mongomo-Ebebiyin through to Gabon and Cameroon will take you less than three hours because the superhighways are excellent. What am saying, tournaments like Afcon can open up a country.

Now lets talk about Kenya hosting the Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) in 2018. What is your take?

Kenya is able to host CHAN. I have been to 14 Afcons since 1988 when I was a reporter. In 1988 in Morocco, the tournament was hosted in only two cities. So was 1990 (Algeria) and 1992 in Senegal.

However, after the teams were increased to 16, a higher number of venues was needed. This also increased costs. I was in Burkinal Faso in 1998 where people were accommodated in hostels, in Mali in 2002, in unfinished apartments.

Kenya is one of the biggest economies in Africa and they are capable of hosting any event. I know Kenya’s only concern will be stadiums. But a solution can be found.

The government of President Uhuru Kenyatta has a grandiose plan to construct big stadiums in each county. That is a very brilliant idea. But for CHAN, Kenya does not need 40,000-seater stadiums. We can renovate Nyayo and Kasarani and make some alterations on the structures to meet the international standards.

Secondly, Kisumu already has artificial turf. The only thing that is needed there is to put up a good VIP tribune, four dressing rooms/toilets, a media centre, offices and seats and make it just a 15,000-seater stadium.

Mombasa/Machakos would be easier alternatives. Machakos Governor AlfredMutua and Joho (Mombasa) can, with central government support, pull up something faster. The most important thing for Machakos and Mombasa would be seats, toilets, dressing rooms, media centre and some few offices and VIP pavilion.

For Machakos and Mombasa 8,000-10,000-seater capacity would be fine.

Kenya has no problems with hotels while at least 12 training grounds spread across host cities can be sorted out without any problem. The most important thing will be the government commitment to fund direct event expenses such tickets, accommodation, allowances and other logistical issues. And then, of course, a big chunk of expenses would have to be considered for security.

What about manpower?

Kenya has the best qualified manpower in Africa and in every sector. The middle class in Kenya, who are the drivers of our economy, are one of the best in the continent and are eager to work and deliver. There should no problem with that.

Twenty five years ago, we delivered a successful All African Games. We have organised successful high-level athletics championships, and football being the biggest sport in the country cannot fail to succeed. This again will depend on the government’s commitment.

In 1996, Kenya was picked to host Afcon. Then one year to the event, KFF pulled out. Do you think this can happen again?

This can only happen if the government is not committed. But I don’t think so. Things have changed. CAF will make several visits to Kenya to ascertain a number of issues and work with the FA and other stakeholders. So Kenya must give a positive first impression when the CAF delegation visits.

You have been a member of the CAF standing committee as well as general co-ordinator and media officer in CAF and Fifa since 2002. What are the main challenges you face when organising Afcon/CHAN?

The main challenge we face is when a host nation is not committed on some issues and more especially when the government is not fully involved.

I have always maintained that you can not run sports without the government. The government is the biggest sponsor and the custodian of everything. With the state apparatus on your side, you are guaranteed of goodwill and corporate sponsorship.

You have been the secretary-general of Cecafa since 2000. What happened last year that you were off radar and the regional Challenge Cup failed to take place for the first time since you took over?

We had to keep cool for a while for people to re-examine themselves and understand that it is not easy to organize these events. Now people in our region know that they need Cecafa and we shall organize it this year, although (the) CAF and Fifa calendar is tight.

The Cecafa (East and Central Africa) region has failed to qualify again for the Africa Cup of Nations. What is the problem with your region?

We at Cecafa do our best to organise competitions for our zone. But it is upon national associations to up their game in preparing their teams. WAFU, COSAFA, etc., do the same and their teams qualify. Ask the national associations, their programmes for their national teams. That should serve as an answer to your question.

Uganda has come close to qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations but have always failed at the last minute. What is your stake on this?

Well, I feel sad for Uganda because it is one of the most solid teams in our zone. Remember also, Uganda in their debut in the Afcon in 1978 reached the final, losing to hosts Ghana in a match played over two days.

Uganda's campaign in both Afcon and the World Cup has always remained a puzzle and enigmatic. Twice they have come close to the World Cup, and four times they have failed in Afcon on the last day.

I appreciate Uganda's efforts to revive youth football. This has seen the country produce many good players that dot the entire region. In Kenya alone, Uganda can raise a national team that can compete effectively in any international competition.

I would like to see other members in the region put much emphasis on youth football because that is the future of the national team.

I appreciate your time, Nic.

You are welcome.