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The inaugural Fiba men’s basketball East Africa Championship Cup is currently underway at the dilapidated Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium, as the country’s Stadia Management Board denied access to the modern Kasarani basketball court.

Despite the availability of better facilities, the games are being held in the outdated gymnasium, with Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) officials, led by secretary-general Angela Luchivya, expressing their dissatisfaction with the state of the facility.

The tournament, which kicked off yesterday, features seven basketball teams from four East African Community (EAC) countries.
However, the poor condition of the Nyayo National Stadium Gymnasium has raised concerns. Luchivya urged the government, through the Stadia Management Board, to urgently rehabilitate the facility, calling its current state “an embarrassment”.

Luchivya recalled an incident during the Fiba Africa-managed “Road to Basketball Africa League” (BAL) Elite 16 Stage qualifiers, when the Nyayo gymnasium’s leaking roof disrupted a match between Kenya’s Nairobi City Thunder and Cape Verde’s Kriol Star, with rainwater spilling onto the court.

Speaking exclusively to People Sport, Luchivya revealed that KBF had applied to use the Kasarani Indoor Arena for the East Africa Championship Cup games. However, their request was denied, with the Stadia Management Board citing prior bookings by a concert group for the duration of the Fiba event. Consequently, the games were moved to Nyayo’s deteriorating gymnasium.

KBF’s frustrations regarding Nyayo’s leaking roof are echoed by Nairobi-based Cameroonian basketball scout Abel Nson, who had observed similar issues during the earlier BAL qualifiers.

“During the qualifiers at Nyayo, rainwater poured onto the court, which was embarrassing for international basketball officials,” Nson recalled.