Happening Now: NTV KENYA LIVE | Senate Proceedings
Premium
Kenyan team of refs makes history at Nations Cup
Centre referee Peter Waweru gestures during the match between South Africa and Cameroon in the round of 16 match of 2025 Africa Cup of Nations at Al Medina Stadium in Rabat, Morocco on January 4, 2026.
What you need to know:
- Centre referee Peter Waweru was assisted by Gilbert Cheruiyot and Stephen Yiembe.
- The Kenyan referees also handled the Group 'C' match between Angola and Zimbabwe.
Professor of pure mathematics Peter Kamaku Waweru on Sunday night made history by becoming the first Kenyan to officiate a match in the knock-out phase of the African Cup of Nations since 1980.
In 1962, M. Lorenzo became the first Kenyan referee to officiate a match in the knock-out phase of the African Cup of Nations when he officiated the third-place play-off match between Tunisia and Uganda.
Then in 1980, Gabriel Odengo Ngesa followed Lorenzo's footsteps when he handled the third-place play-off match between Morocco and Egypt.
Centre referee Peter Waweru shows a yellow card to Cameroon's Carlos Baleba (left) for a foul on a South African opponent in the round of 16 match of Africa Cup of Nations at Al Medina Stadium in Rabat, Morocco on January 4, 2026.
On Sunday night, Waweru, 43, was lined up for the round of 16 match between Cameroon and South Africa at the Al Medina Stadium in Rabat.
The mathematics professor was assisted by his compatriots, Gilbert Cheruiyot and Stephen Yiembe.
Cameroon beat South Africa 2-1 to set up a date with Morocco in the quarter finals on Friday.
Centre referee Peter Waweru shows a yellow card to South Africa's Siyabonga Ngezana (right) for a foul on a Cameroonian opponent in the round of 16 match of Africa Cup of Nations at Al Medina Stadium in Rabat, Morocco on January 4, 2026.
The match was the Kenyan team of official’s second in Morocco, having also handled the Group 'C' match between Angola and Zimbabwe.
Another Kenyan referee, Dickens Mimisa Nyagrowa, has been on VAR duty in four matches -- Burkina Faso vs Equatorial Guinea, Egypt vs South Africa, Algeria vs Burkina Faso, and the round of 16 match between Senegal and Sudan.
Nyagrowa is a civil engineer who specialises in structural and highways engineering.
