THE Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) has confirmed Tanzania will host this year’s edition of the CECAFA Kagame Cup, with the regional inter-club competition making a return after a two-year absence.

The tournament will return after the two-year hiatus, having previously taken place in Dar es Salaam in 2021. 

 Tanzania, the last showpiece host, has been elected as the host for the 2024 edition of the tournament slated for July 20 to August 4.

 The Premier League champions from the 12-member associations, including Zanzibar, and four other invited teams will take part in the tournament.

 John Auka Gecheo, CECAFA's Executive Director, confirmed that some guest sides will take part in the coming tournament.

 "We are glad that this tournament will be returning after two years to provide a brilliant pre-season platform for the teams to prepare well before the start of the 2024–2025 CAF Champions League, CAF Confederation Cup and various leagues back home," Gecheo revealed.

Before the competition's return, CECAFA president Wallace Karia insisted the tournament is not dormant, revealing it is facing difficulties due to a lack of suitable dates to host it since the international calendar is congested.

 “The calendar has been tight, clubs and national teams have had commitments and they are the ones who provide the players for the competition,” Karia said.

 The CECAFA president remarked: “Teams are in AFCON, CHAN, or World Cup qualifiers, they also want to go to pre-season. So the calendar is tight and it becomes difficult for them to play in this competition."

 Karia revealed: “It is not dormant. We need to look at the best way to play Kagame Cup but we will also go back to President (Paul) Kagame and ask him which way he can support and increase the prize money because our teams are now big and cannot play in competitions for little money.”

 Uganda's Express FC beat guest side, Nyasa Big Bullets FC from Malawi, 1-0 in the final when the tournament was last held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2021.

Tanzania’s Simba SC has lifted the CECAFA Kagame Cup title a record six times, while the long-time rival Young Africans SC (Tanzania), and Tusker FC (Kenya) have triumphed in the regional showpiece five times apiece.

The teams that have lifted the title three times each include APR FC (Rwanda), Al Merreikh (Sudan), SC Villa (Uganda) and Kenya’s Gor Mahia FC.

Other notable winners include Rayon SC (Rwanda), Al Hilal (Sudan), Express FC (Uganda), and Kenya’s AFC Leopards- all having claimed the title two times each.

Currently, Yanga, Burundi’s Vital’O FC, and APR FC are the clubs guaranteed a spot in the 2024 tournament after winning their respective countries' 2023/24 premier league top honours.