Anita Among, Speaker of Parliament, has issued an order requiring the Pioneer Bus Limited cars parked at the Mandela National Stadium complex—also referred to as Namboole Stadium—to be removed right away. This choice was made after Among and a group from Parliament, led by Commissioner of Parliament Mathias Mpuuga, inspected the property.
Among emphasized the seriousness of the situation, stating that Peter Ogwang, the Minister of State for Sports, ought to come before Parliament the next morning to take up the problem as the main item on the agenda. “We no longer need scrap in our premises if we have a beautiful smart stadium here,” she said, emphasizing the necessity to restore the integrity of the stadium grounds.
Among also stressed how crucial it is to keep the stadium’s property reserved for sporting events. She stressed the necessity for openness in such choices and urged that any use of the land for other purposes should require a public resolution. Among demanded information about the government’s Non-Tax Revenue (NTR) earnings and an inquiry into the land lease to Pioneer busses.
As announced by project engineer Peter Seku Kidemuka, the Mandela National Stadium rehabilitation and improvement will be finished by May 25, 2024. Work on the project started in August 2022. Huge strides have been made in the renovation process with a budget of sh97 billion. In order to guarantee the project’s early completion, Parliament urged State Minister of Finance Amos Lugoloobi to release the final sh17.7 billion last week.
Kidemuka emphasized the need to prioritize repairs in order to comply with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) requirements, keeping in mind major tournaments like the African Nations Championship in September 2024 and the World Cup qualifiers in June 2024.
This urgency emphasizes how urgently any problems, like the evacuation of Pioneer buses, must be resolved in order to guarantee that the stadium renovations are successfully completed in the allotted amount of time.
