The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among, has tasked Peter Ogwang, the Minister of State for Sports to provide accountability for the Shs97bn spent on renovations of Mandela National Stadium in Namboole.
This comes after the latest inspection report by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) indicated that the current works being done by the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) Engineering Brigade are below the required standard.
“Let the Minister give us a status of the progress of Namboole and let him also give us the accountability of the Shs97Bn. This is a very serious issue,” Among said during Thursday plenary.
Algeria Refuses To Play Cranes In Morocco
Uganda is scheduled to play Algeria in an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 Qualifiers – it had hoped that Namboole would be ready for this encounter, but it's not.
This means that Uganda will yet again play its AFCON in a foreign country. Uganda has been playing its AFCON and World Cup qualifiers abroad because Namboole is unusable and the country doesn’t have any other standard stadium.
“There is no way we can go and play in another country, remember we are supposed to play with Algeria, but then, Morocco has offered us to go and play in Morocco for free, but Algeria has said, we aren’t going to Morocco, because of their issues, so, what is the way forward?” the speaker wondered.
Ogwang has let us down
The Speaker’s directive followed a concern raised by John Nambeshe, the Opposition Chief Whip who expressed disappointment towards the failure of Minister Ogwang to honour his numerous pledges about the Namboole stadium construction works.
“The inspection report has found the stadium works are not compliant with the requirements and it hasn’t been approved. The Minister had made an undertaking that by the time of inspection, the works will be ready, he has let us down and I would like the Minister to report to us what has gone amiss.
Moreover, these works, if we have an opportunity, if they can be expedited we can have a second chance because we don’t have another venue to host this FIFA World Cup United 2026 qualifiers,” Nambeshe said.
Minister should resign immediately
Silas Aogon (Kumi Municipality MP) has called for the resignation of all people behind the shoddy works at Mandela National Stadium and a detailed explanation of what went wrong during the renovation works.
“I think it is proper that when the Minister is speaking, they give us a proper statement about the gaps, is it the money which was the problem?
What was the issue so that we get to know early enough, otherwise, for us to miss this the Minister or the person responsible will have to vacate their position because this time as Uganda, we can’t lose that opportunity.
You assured us, told us that things are going to be okay and we are now here, we are asking, what is wrong?” noted Aogon.
Hindering chance to host AFCON2027
Jonathan Odur (Erute South MP) warned that the failure by the government to address issues raised in CAF's inspection report on the quality of works at Namboole would threaten Uganda’s chances of hosting other tournaments like CHAN and AFCON, in which the country submitted its bids.
“The Minister promised so far there are five deadlines. This lack of seriousness and taking the House for granted and Ugandans is what the Minister has to address today.
That Namboole is the pre-condition for us to host CHAN, and if you are satisfied, then you can host AFCON and by December 2025, we should have that Stadium ready. Would the Minister address us in light of the bid we have put to host AFCON and CHAN because Namboole was the only stadium that was earmarked to host CHAN,” said Odur.
Uganda is set to host the 2027 edition of AFCON together with neighbors Kenya and Tanzania.
Substantive progress has been made
Denis Hamson Obua, the government's Chief Whip, informed Parliament of an ongoing meeting being held by Ogwang, and Markson Oboth, the Minister of Defence, who is representing UPDF & other officials. Obua also invited MPs to inspect the works done so far at Namboole to appreciate the progress Gov’t have made.
“Mandela National Stadium was recently inspected by a team of inspectors from the Confederation of African Football. Of the major areas that had been highlighted, when this stadium wasn’t approved about 2-3years ago, we as a country have made substantive progress and I invite MPs to go to Namboole,” Obua said.
UPDF lacks experience in constructing stadiums
The President of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) and Member of Parliament for Budiope East in April 2023 noted that the contractors (UPDF Engineering Brigade) and the supervisors (Min of Works) do not have the necessary experience and expertise to undertake stadium construction.
"[Government of Uganda] GoU should urgently cancel the contracts of the contractors and supervisors and immediately procure experienced service providers in stadium construction, even if it means being obtained from outside Uganda," Magogo, also the husband of the Speaker of Parliament said in April 2023.