Speaker tasks Ogwang to account for Shs97b allocated to Namboole renovation

The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, has directed Minister of State for Education and Sports (Sports), Peter Ogwang to present a detailed status report on the renovation of Mandela National Stadium popularly known as Namboole before the House tomorrow without fail.

Ms Among’s directive during Thursday morning plenary session came after the Opposition Chief Whip and Manjiya County MP, John Baptist Nambeshe, expressed disappointment towards the failure by the Minister to honour his numerous pledges about completion of the stadium’s construction works.

Mr Nambeshe noted that the pre-inspection report by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) officials indicated that the current works being done by UPDF Engineering brigade are below the required standard yet Uganda is supposed to host the African Cup of Nations (AfCon) Championship in 2027.
“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,” Mr Nambeshe said.

Adding, “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.”

After listening to a couple of legislators, the tough-talking Speaker asked the Minister to present the report to the House at 10am.
“Let the Minister give us a status of the progress of Namboole and let him also give us accountability of the Shs97 billion. This is a very serious issue. All Ugandans have been excited about AFCON, but at the same time that 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. However, Algeria has said they aren’t going to Morocco because of their issues, so, what is the way forward?” she asked.

The news of Uganda not hosting Algeria which they are supposed to play in June was broken by the president of the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) Moses Magogo during a show on Buganda Kingdom radio, CBS FM.
Mr Magogo last Friday informed the radio listeners that hosting games in Namboole stadium will not happen anytime soon as the stadium is still under construction.

During today’s plenary session, the Kumi Municipality legislator Silas Aogon said Ugandans will be disappointed losing a chance to host Afcon saying that officials behind shoddy works must resign should they be found culpable.
 “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 actually the Minister or the person responsible will have to vacate their positions because this time as Uganda, we can’t lose that opportunity. You assured us that things are going to be okay and we are now here, we are asking, what is wrong?” he said.

Relatedly, the Erute County MP Jonathan Odur 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 at hosting other tournaments like CHAN and AFCON, in which the country submitted its bids.

“The Minister promised and 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. 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,” he said.

The government Chief Whip Hamson Obua informed the House that there is an ongoing meeting between the Defence minister, Jacob Oboth-Oboth, Mr Ogwang and other key stakeholders about the matter before he invited MPs to inspect the stadium to appreciate the progress government has made.
“Mandela National Stadium was recently visited 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 two to three years ago, we as a country have made substantive progress and I invite MPs to go to Namboole,” said. 

However, Ibrahim Ssemujju (Kira Municipality) wondered if the Minister’s request for MPs to visit Namboole is intended to replace the opinion given by experts of CAF with that of MPs.

“The clarification I am seeking from Minister, Hamson Obua is whether now that the inspectors have said we aren’t ready, you are now replacing them with MPs because you are issuing an invitation. So the clarification I am seeking is whether if MPs with their naked eyes say the stadium is ready, we can do away with inspectors,” said Ssemujju.
In a separate interview, Mr Ogwang told our sister station, NTV that the completion of construction will depend on when Finance ministry releases Shs17.7 billion balance.
"We have a balance of 17.7 billion that we're supposed to clear," he said.