Parliament has passed the third supplementary budget presented by the government to kick-start the construction of Hoima International Stadium.

The construction is in preparation for Uganda to host the 2027 AFCON matches under the PAMOJA arrangement with Kenya and Tanzania.

On Thursday, May 16, 2024, the Minister of State for Finance, Henry Musasizi, presented the request for more than Shs288 billion under the 3rd Supplementary Schedule for 2023–24.

He said the government will give Shs152 billion to the National Council of Sports (NCS) for the construction of the Hoima City Stadium for the preparation of the 2027 African Cup of Nations and that Shs132.634 billion will be used for the purchase of shares in the East African Oil Pipeline (EACOP) by the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC).

The minister said the money will be given to the contractor (M/S Summa) as part of the 30% advance payment in order to enable the commencement of the construction of the stadium.

“I would like to bring to your attention that while Uganda is set to host the 2024 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) and the 2027 AFCON games, there is still a lot of work to be done. This includes physical upgrades to the stadiums and timely payment of commitment fees,” Speaker Among said.

Speaker Among warned that Uganda is likely to lose its rights to host AFCON because the construction of Hoima Stadium is delayed, stating that both Kenya and Tanzania have already embarked on their construction projects.

“We won the PAMOJA bid with Kenya and Tanzania; all the other countries are constructing; the only country that is still behind is Uganda. It is likely that if we don’t move faster, like we moved faster on Namboole, that bid will be taken away from Uganda,” she emphasized.

Dr. Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, applauded Parliament for appropriating the funds to allow the government to kick-start the construction.

“I want to thank parliament for passing a supplementary budget to enable funding for the construction of our long-awaited Hoima International Stadium. On behalf of Bunyoro and Uganda’s young people, I wish to thank all my colleagues and Mr. Museveni,” Minister Barugahara said.

Ibrahim Ssemujju (Kira Municipality) castigated the government for exhibiting a high level of fiscal indiscipline by running the national budget through supplementary budgets, saying that had he been the President of Uganda, most of the ministers involved in these kiosk-like supplementary budgets would be serving jail terms at Luzira Maximum Prison.

The Hoima Stadium is meant to be ready before the deadline of December 31, 2025, as required by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).