KCCA daringly rolls out Shs1bn floodlights project

What you need to know:

The euphoric ambience at St Mary's Stadium-Kitende last Saturday night as Vipers held Raja Casablanca to a 1-all draw in the Caf Champions League was one to behold.
A game of little significance to Vipers's Group C progression bid had fans throng Kitende in droves - each jovially taking in the moment.

Night matches are singular occurrences in Ugandan football. Most fans treated it as a weekend outing - merrymaking and chatting away into the night whilst enjoying drinks and eats.

KCCA might have borrowed a leaf from that thrilling spectacle and now wants to tap from the corporate base since their MTN Omondi Stadium-Lugogo is premised at the heat of Kampala City.
Already four gigantic lamp stands have been erected in the four corners atLugogo with about six bulbs each and according to the club administrator and operations manager Moses Kaddu, it is still work in progress that they want to wind up before April 1, when KCCA hosts Maroons.

"Our target is being ready for the Maroons game. In the meantime, we are going to play two test matches with StarTimes Uganda Premier league sides to test the light patterns. We intend to have about 600 to 700 lux mandated for the local matches," Kaddu told Daily Monitor.

According to Kaddu, the floodlights deal is catered for and installed by shirt sponsors CHiNT Electronics that joined KCCA for a three-year partnership in October last year.

CHiNT is a Chinese company dealing in provision of smart energy solutions, covering an integrated whole industry chain of power generation, storage, transmission, substation, distribution, sales, and consumption.

"We are not contributing a penny but we believe that CHiNT will invest about Shs1bn to install the floodlights. This is an expensive venture not for the faint hearted. Our stadium is under construction so we can't host international matches but upon completion, expect an assemblage of modernised floodlights," Kaddu added.

They plan to have 48 bulbs distributed on the four lamps and an extra two bulbs stationed near the both stands to balance visibility.

Although sufficient for UPL standards, the floodlights project fades in comparison with that at Kitende which enables a capacity of 1200 lux lighting, was imported from Germany, was inspected by FIFA contractors Rabo Sport Company and is valued at Shs2bn.

We are targeting corporates - Muhoozi

Anisha Muhoozi, the affable club CEO, reveals that the full package from CHiNT will be completed with a standby generator, an uninterruptible power source (UPS) and a brand new transformer to avoid power cuts during matches.

"We aim to host all the remaining league matches at home in order to tap into the office workers and those that are always stuck in traffic gridlock. Our research has shown that fans are willing to watch midweek matches more compared to weekend action," Muhoozi said.

The 13-time league kings, leading the table with 35 points from 16 matches, will host Maroons, UPDF, SC Villa, Onduparaka and Bul at Lugogo in the remaining 12 matches.

In the long run, the club wants to return to the continent with players that have exposure in night football and also 'introduce Ugandan stars to the benefit of using less energy whilst playing night matches as the North Africans have made it a norm.'

According to Muhoozi, the first phase of the stadium construction, estimated to cost Shs10bn upon completion, is scheduled to end towards the end of next year and immediately the second phase will commence.