Members of Parliament have expressed concern over recent reports from Technical people from the Confederation of African Football that Nambole stadium is of poor quality standards hence not fit to host African Cup of Nations in 2027.
However Denis Hamson Obua the Government Chief Whip informed Parliament of an ongoing meeting being held by Minister Ogwang, Markson Oboth, Minister of Defence, who is representing UPDF & other officials and also invited MPs to inspect the works done so far at Namboole in order to appreciate the progress that the government has 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 to 3 years ago, we as a country have made substantive progress and I invite MPs to go to Namboole,” said Hamson Obua.
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.
This caused the Speaker of Parliament Anita Among to task Peter Ogwang Ogwang, Minister of State for Sports to provide an accountability of the Shs 97 bn spent on renovations of Mandela National Stadium in Namboole, after the latest inspection report by CAF indicated that the current works being done by UPDF Engineering brigade are below the required standard.
