The Minister of State for Sports, Peter Ogwang, has urged the Ministry of Finance to provide the remaining funds to complete the renovation of Mandela National Stadium, Namboole, in order to host the Confederation of African Football (CAF) matches on June 6 and 9, 2024.

According to Hon. Ogwang, the ministry has so far received Ugx 80B from the Ministry of Finance, and work done is at 95%, with 5% of the work yet to be completed by the contractor.

He also asked the Minister of Finance to explain why they have not released the rest of the money purposefully to allow the stadium’s contractor to complete their work.

“I would be very happy for the minister responsible for finance to come out and tell the people of Uganda why he has not released this money purposely to allow the contractor to complete his work,” he said.

However, Ogwang praised President Museveni for coming up with the idea of hosting AFCON 2027 and committing the country it.

“First, I want to thank the president of the Republic of Uganda; it was him who conceived the idea for hosting AFCON 2027, and he did talk to his colleagues, the President of Kenya and the President of Tanzania, about hosting a joint bid. He later committed Uganda to host AFCON 2027,” he said.

Additionally, Ogwang requested that the Ministry of Finance provide funds for the construction of the Hoima City Oil Stadium. He revealed that MS SUMMA, who is well-known in stadium construction around the world, will be handling the stadium construction.

He also explained that they have already identified the contractor for the Akii Bua Olympic Stadium in Lira, and the same contractor will construct the upgrade of Gulu International Airport.

In September 2023, the Confederation of African Football selected Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) over bids from Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Botswana, and Egypt.