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Pamoja 2027: Fufa transfer Hoima City land to NCS
Done deal. Fufa president Moses Magogo and NCS general secretary Bernard Patrick Ogwel exchange signed copies of their MoUs and title deeds as Minister of State for Sports Peter Ogwang looks on. PHOTO/MAKHTUM MUZIRANSA
What you need to know:
It is on this land that government will construct Hoima City Stadium ahead of the 2027 Nations Cup. Parliament has already endorsed Shs152b, which is 30 percent of the required investment, for Hoima Stadium and Shs100b for Akii Bua in Lira.
The National Council of Sports (NCS) are increasingly confident that they can break ground for the construction of Hoima City and Akii Bua stadiums in June.
The two stadiums are part of the three, including Mandela National Stadium – Namboole, that Uganda hopes to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) that they co-host with Kenya and Tanzania.
On Thursday, government made headway in Hoima when football governing body Fufa finally signed documents to transfer 34.9 acres of land in the western city to NCS, who are mandated by law to take charge of all sports facilities on public land.
It is on this land that government will construct Hoima City Stadium ahead of the 2027 Nations Cup. Parliament has already endorsed Shs152b, which is 30 percent of the required investment, for Hoima Stadium and Shs100b for Akii Bua in Lira.
“(The late) Dr. (James Christopher) Rujumba donated to us 10 acres of land to construct a football stadium in Hoima town,” Fufa president Moses Magogo, shared during a press briefing about the transfer held on Thursday at the Ministry of Education and Sports.
“But we thought we would need more and we procured another 10 acres in the same area. However, when the Afcon project came to life, the Fufa executive elected to unconditionally donate the land to government.
We then worked with government to get another 14 acres and today (Thursday), we are here to hand over the land titles that has been transferred to NCS as advised by the office of the Attorney General,” Magogo added.
Work to start
The event was also graced by representatives from; the Ministry led by Minister of State for Sports Peter Ogwang, NCS led by general secretary Bernard Patrick Ogwel, Hoima City led by mayor Brian Kaboyo, Fufa, and the office of the Attorney General.
“I believe that in June, we should be able to commission works for the two stadiums,” Ogwel told the press.
Sports Minister Ogwang said that even though there has been pressure to start works on Hoima, “there are processes that you cannot circumvent like ensuring the land is under government control. You have to do them clearly.”
Numbers:
3 - Uganda hopes to have three stadiums endorsed for Afcon 2027. These are in Hoima, Lira and Namboole
34.9 - Fufa transferred 34.9 acres of what was their land in Hoima to NCS
100 - Shs100b has been earmarked for construction of Akii Bua in Lira
152 - Shs152b has been earmarked for Phase I of construction in Hoima
