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Ogwang, Hoima leaders find truce, pave way for stadium construction
Take off. Contractors Summa have the all clear to continue clearing the land at the Hoima City Stadium site after talks between the Ministry of Education, NCS and leaders in the district. PHOTOS/MAKHTUM MUZIRANSA
What you need to know:
According to Minister of State for Sport Peter Ogwang, the government was being accused by environmental engineers in the district of extending their fence into a wetland as part of the 34.9 acres of land available for construction of the multi-purpose stadium.
For nearly two months leading to August 15, contractors Summa were finding it hard to push through with work at the site of Hoima City Stadium.
According to Minister of State for Sport Peter Ogwang, the government was being accused by environmental engineers in the district of extending their fence into a wetland as part of the 34.9 acres of land available for construction of the multi-purpose stadium.
This partly disrupted work that should be completed by December 2025 in preparation for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) that is supposed to be hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Ogwang accused "some leaders in big offices" sitting on clearance letters for three weeks.
“We all know what a wetland looks like but these people were halting work to look for bribes,” Ogwang shared at a dinner held on Thursday at Protea Hotel to welcome athletes back for Olympics.
“We compensated someone with a title for the land that they say has a wetland so where were these people before the government got the land to mark it as a wetland?
"The contractor was so frustrated that he had asked to reduce the scope of the works; reduce the running track to four lanes and remove some other sports facilities altogether so he can fit in the land that these people claimed was available.”
Earlier in the day, Ogwang had been to Hoima to clear concerns between the locals and the contractors. The latter continue to clear land at the site.
“I was chairing a meeting between the City, client, security team, contractors to ask other leaders to give the project all the support it requires. The contractor has started to clear land.
"We wanted to inform the government agencies that nobody can interfere with the work without written permission from the Ministry of Education and Sports. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Works will visit the site and have permanent representation here while the Ministry of Energy will also install power within three or four days,” Ogwang said in a press briefing in Hoima.
White elephant
This is a design and build project, according to chairman of the infrastructure committee of this Afcon 2027 project and National Council of Sports Ambrose Tashobya. And the contractor has so far released a layout of the expected infrastructure.
The place will host a 20,000-seater stadium, 2,000-seater indoor arena, a training pitch with a running track, a 25m swimming pool, outdoor courts and a parking area. Ogwang and the people he runs sports with at NCS see this period (between now and Afcon 2027) as a major chance to uplift the case for sports infrastructure and put the years when Ugandans had to host qualifiers and trials in neighbouring countries behind them.
“This project will cost $130m (about Shs494m) and we have so far paid $39m (over Shs148b) to the contractor,” Ogwang added in Hoima.
The decision to make it a multi-purpose arena is to avoid having a white elephant after Afcon 2027. This would help given that one of the football clubs, Kitara, based in the area is working to construct its own stadium.
Trucks working on the site in Hoima.
“We believe there are other international events for other disciplines that can be hosted in this facility and that is the same idea we have for Akii Bua (in Lira). Even in (Mandela National Stadium) Namboole, we are trying to refocus to see that we add more disciplines.
“Some clubs have already started requesting to use Namboole for their league matches. We recognize and support private investors who want to construct sports facilities but Caf needs a Class A stadium which they might not be able to construct,” Ogwang said.
Ready locals
Meanwhile, as Ogwang held his meeting, one female resident, who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity, visited the scene. Her concern was that business is not coming to the locals.
“I have my house across the road that I rent out for $4,000 (about Shs15.2m) a month. I want these people to give me business. We can offer services that hotels offer,” she said.
She also shared that the community around the stadium has already started to sense business opportunities.
“Before Easter, an acre of land here in the Municipality was Shs35m but it is much higher now. I know people are going to construct houses and other things in anticipation of Afcon but it would be easier to invest just outside the Municipality,” she shared.
Ogwang made it clear that in their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Summa, 80 percent of the work is supposed to be done by locals. It would be akin to Namboole, where the UPDF engineers and SIS Pitches work with locals.
Client (Government) Requirements
-20,000 seater main stadium
-2,000 seater indoor stadium
-Training pitch with running track
-25m swimming pool
-Outdoor courts
Numbers
34.9 – Acres of land for Hoima City Stadium
35 – Minimum cost of an acre of land in Hoima Municipality now
39 – $39m so far paid by government to Summa
80 – Percentage of work to go to locals
130 – Project to cost a total of $130m
2025 – Work should be complete by December 31, 2025
