Kadiba Stadium has officially been handed over to the government of Uganda for development into a CAF-certified training ground for the Pamoja AFCON 2027 tournament to be hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
In the presence and with the endorsement of the Minister of State for Sports, Hon. Peter Ogwang, FUFA President Eng. Moses Magogo handed over the facility to the National Council of Sports (NCS) who in turn handed it over the UPDF Engineering Brigade for commencement of works.
The Engineering Brigade's Col. James Lwegaba committed to immediately starting Shs 5.189bn worth of work on the ground, for among other things a new standardised pitch (playing surface), improvements on the floodlights, small electrical works and ICT installations.
NCS General Secretary Dr Bernard Patrick Ogwel confirmed that the legal requirements for the handover to government had been completed and that the money for development had been availed this Financial Year, and NCS Chairman Ambrose Tashobya implored the Engineering Brigade to complete this relatively limited scope of works in less time than the contractually stipulated six months.
Supervised by the Ministry of Works and Transport, the Enginering Brigade is simultaneously working on training grounds in Kyambogo, Makerere Univerisity, Hoima Boma Grounds, Masindi Grounds, Lira University, Gulu University and Pece Stadium.
FUFA President Eng. Magogo thanked government for the heavy investment in Namboole, Hoima City Stadium and Akii-Bua Olympic Stadium in Lira to fully cover the requirements of international football, and implored Minister Ogwang to extend the infrastructure drive to regional facilities to cover domestic competitions, with emphasis on Mbarara, Jinja, Mbale and West Nile.
Hon. Ogwang articulated that those areas had already been planned for and, the challenges of land ownership aside, the implementation will follow. He reaffirmed that money for all these facilities would be availed, with the greater strategy being to boost sports tourism and with it the economy of Uganda.