Prime
Government opens Afcon 2027 secretariat
Minister Peter Ogwang (R) and Fufa vice president Justus Mugisha pose in one the vans. PHOTOS/COURTESY OF NCS
What you need to know:
Uganda won the bid to host the competition alongside East African neighbours Kenya and Tanzania. But since work started on Hoima City Stadium early last month, not much has been going on behind the scenes.
The Ugandan government is doing everything possible to realise their plan of hosting the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Uganda won the bid to host the competition alongside East African neighbours Kenya and Tanzania. But since work started on Hoima City Stadium early last month, not much has been going on behind the scenes.
“We have been in our first LOC (local organizing committee) meeting because we had sort of eased off,” Minister of State for Sports Peter Ogwang said in Lugogo.
He was in the area to open a new office at Plot 11 Hesketh Bell Road for the project and also commission five vehicles meant for the project.
“This is a two and half to three years project because Afcon is in 2027 but I must stress that everything we are doing is in the budget. We needed an office, where the work will be done by members of the LOC and where they can meet. Equipping the secretariat has cost somewhere between Shs4-5b.
“They have also been using their own vehicles to travel to the sites in Hoima, (Mandela National Stadium) Namboole and others. Some of them are government employees and have been using their work cars.”
Meanwhile, the plot that now houses the ‘Afcon Secretariat – Uganda Office’ previously hosted Seven Hills International School and government is expected to rent there for three years.
It is contested land but Daily Monitor understands that the National Council of Sports has entered a 2-3 year Memorandum of Understanding with the people currently running the place. NCS also made an extreme makeover of the place that Seven Hills had left as a shell.
When NCS wanted to shift from Lugogo Sports Complex to allow for the reconstruction of the area, they asked Parliament for Shs300m per year. Our sources have all reasons to believe that the rent, furniture and setting up of cameras around the area could have cost about the same figure.
Officials celebrate opening the Afcon office.
The two vans, we understand, cost about Shs40m each, while the three SUVs cost Shs300m each. The office is supposed to have some staff but is currently run by one administrator and security.
Chan pressure
Meanwhile, Uganda is also under increased pressure to show readiness for the Africa Championships (Chan), for home-based players, which is tipped for January 2025.
“We were told that we can only show readiness for Afcon 2027 by hosting Chan and we are working very hard to see that,” Ogwang said
According to Fufa vice president Justus Mugisha, who led the football body’s delegation at the event, Uganda will host two groups of three teams as will Kenya while Tanzania hosts one group of four.
“Fortunately you can host two groups with one stadium but we will need at least four training pitches,” Mugisha said.
“Namboole is ready and works are ongoing in Kyambogo. We are going to fasttrack work at (Fufa Stadium) Kadiba and also get work moving at Makerere University for the same,” Mugisha added.
Ogwang said they would need four months to get Makerere and Kadiba ready for Chan.
