By Spy Uganda
Kampala: President Museveni who blessed Hamis Kiggundu aka Ham to kick off the renovation of Nakivubo Stadium in 2015 is set to commission the facility at the end of this month.
Ham confirmed the good news after meeting President Museveni at State house Entebbe on Tuesday to update him on the construction of the stadium.
According to Ham, president Museveni accepted to commission the stadium during a discussion in a closed door meeting where he asked him to officially open it following its completion.
Sources close to State House revealed that the meeting is part of a series of other meetings Museveni is scheduled to hold with different Ugandan football stakeholders this week in preparation for AFCON 2027 after Uganda successfully won the bid to host the 2027 AFCON together with Kenya and Tanzania.
Nakivubo stadium has already played a pivotal role in the AFCON 2027 East African Pamoja bid and with its modern amenities like executive VVIP boxes, restaurants, cafeterias, artificial turf among others are set to change the sports sector In Uganda.
Furthermore President Museveni in June this year, applauded Ham for single-handedly investing in the redevelopment of Nakivubo stadium to world-class standards noting that much as Uganda still needs more stadiums to be developed to world-class standards the likes of Nakivubo Stadium and Namboole will boost the country’s revenue as well promoting sports talent among youths.
”Apart from Namboole and Nakivubo, we need more world-class stadiums to be built. It does not matter whether they are government or private, as long as they are in Uganda” President Museveni said during the State of the Nation Address in June this year.
Museveni further added that the government is also looking forward to deliberately focusing on sports by building more stadiums and training facilities.
Completed Nakivubo Stadium
Built to modern standards, the 40,000-seater ‘War Memorial Stadium will be a reminder of the old good days for football lovers.
“We have followed modern stadium trends from all over the world in whatever we have included in the construction of this facility because we didn’t want visiting teams to have excuses with anything regarding the facility. So, from the turf to the dressing rooms to the stands and everything else is up to international standards,” Ham revealed recently.
Nakivubo will be a multipurpose stadium making it Kampala’s most famous and iconic ground with unique amenities like lifts for the physically handicapped, cinema halls, an area for indoor games like Table Tennis and Pool, VIP boxes which can be booked by a group of people on top of ordinary sitting, VVIP and executive boxes on the first tier.
The executive boxes seat about 20 people each with extra amenities like self-contained lavatories, sofa sets, a conference room, and a resting area. Each category of fans will have its own entry and exit points.
Additionally, the stadium has a multi-level parking able to accommodate over 1,000 cars on top of other amenities like restaurants, gyms, and facilities for people with disabilities (PWDs).
Behind the goalposts on one end will be a netball court while on the other a basketball court. There will be no running track as had earlier been planned following architectural changes.
The home and visiting teams will have a medical section room each, on top of dressing rooms that can seat up to 30 people each. There are also enough showers that can be used by all players of both sides on top of two referees’ rooms and lockers, and change rooms for all stadium support staff including ball boys who also have their rooms and amenities just like the kit’s men. There is also an allowance for a gym and a boxing ring under the stands.
Parking for service vehicles like ambulances and those of the VIPs are catered for including residential rooms for 80 people for teams that might want to stay for residential training.
The stadium will also have a big screen and floodlights as well as security cameras installed around the stadium.
