She Cranes can’t use abandoned Makerere
The abandoned sports facility at Makerere University. PHOTO BY ABDUL NASSER SSEMUGABI
KAMPALA. Hardly two months to the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, the She Cranes are still wandering from one training ground to another.
Yet the new indoor facility that hosted the World University Netball Championship at Makerere University last year would be in a handy.
But since tournament in September 2018, the multi-sport facility looks deserted and abandoned.
“We wrote to the vice chancellor around December seeking to use that facility, he told us it would be incomplete by end of March but unfortunately it was abandoned,” said Joselyn Uchanda, the She Cranes team manager.
When we visited the facility adjacent to the basketball court and swimming pool, on Saturday, the site was enclosed. No work in progress. There is nothing like a court. All you see are brick walls, an iron-sheeted roof over concrete and bricks waiting for use, with grass eating up as much space as it can in the backyard.
Increase capacity
Why? The stadium’s construction is under the UPDF engineering brigade.
“After the championship, it was redesigned to increase capacity to 2,500. The offices were also moved to create a better view angle for the spectators and other changes,” said Kabenge head of Association for Uganda University Sports Association. “We [Makerere] have the money for the completion of the work and we are pushing UPDF to claim the money to resume the work. “We met them about a month ago and agreed on the way forward but they have their own process.”
The remaining work, Kabenge said, can be completed in two months. Had it been complete, Kabenge said, the netball team could have accessed it by hiring or by partnership when Makerere becomes their sponsor.
For now, Uchanda said, the national team is banking on the ever busy MTN Arena in Lugogo. “When it’s not occupied we use it, when it’s busy we train from outside,” she said.
