The Ministry of Education and Sports has revealed that the Shs97Bn renovations and refurbishment of Mandela National Stadium in Namboole will be starting soon following the release of funds to the Ministry of Education and Sports two weeks ago.
The revelation was made by Denis Obua, State Minister for Sports during Thursday 7 July plenary sitting, where he was responding to a question raised by Francis Katabazi (Kalungu East) tasked the Minister to update Parliament on the renovation works going on at Namboole.
Katabazi remarked: “Of course we had Nakivubo, I don’t know how far you have gone but it has taken ages, we have nowhere to enjoy football from, Namboole I heard there were soldiers, other stadiums, I don’t know what is happening.”
In response, Obua said the Ministry had received funds to kick start the renovation and there are scheduled meetings with stakeholders to agree on how works will be undertaken.
Obua replied: “One or two weeks ago, Mandela National Stadium received the approved supplementary funding towards the starting of renovation and upgrade. I have called a stakeholders meeting in order for us to meet and agree in terms of time by the UPDF engineering team because soon, we shall be completing the wall fence.”
Worth noting is that during the consideration of the 2022/2023 national budget, the Ministry of Education sought additional funding for Shs30Bn for Namboole refurbishment and this was on top of the Shd67Bn supplementary budget Parliament had approved, out of the required Shs98Bn to renovate the stadium to international standards.
Under a Japanese grant, the Minister also informed Parliament that Uganda has earmarked two stadia to be constructed and these include; Akii Bua Olympics Stadium in Lira and Buhinga in Kabarole.
“As the Ministry of Education and Sports, we executed all our roles and responsibilities, all studies were done, all submissions were made and we are waiting for availability of funds from the Ministry of Finance because that’s the only process. I believe this Parliament should be able to extend this question to the Ministry of Finance because as Education, we are done,” said Obua.
Government of Uganda has been hiring a private facility –St. Mary’s Stadium in Kitende as temporary home of Uganda Cranes the national football team to host its international matches and training after both the Confederation of African Federation (CAF) and Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) slapped a ban on Mandela National Stadium-Namboole after failing an earlier inspection test.
The ban prompted calls from the Ministry of Education and Sports to the Ministry of Works and Transport to constitute a team to conduct needs assessment and recommended upgrade for the stadium and the two teams agreed on the Shs96Bn as an indicative planning figure but more funds will be required for complete works.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) engineering brigade that is currently undertaking the Shs3. 8Bn fencing works of the stadium will also be in charge of the refurbishment works.