The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among, has tasked Peter Ogwang, the Minister of State for Sports to provide accountability for the Shs97bn spent on renovations of Mandela National Stadium in Namboole.

This comes after the latest inspection report by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) indicated that the current works being done by the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) Engineering Brigade are below the required standard. 

“Let the Minister give us a status of the progress of Namboole and let him also give us the accountability of the Shs97Bn. This is a very serious issue,” Among said.

The Speaker also revealed that Algeria, Uganda Cranes’ next opponent in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers refused to play the Ugandan side in Morocco where it usually plays its home games.

“Morocco has offered us to go and play in Morocco for free, but Algeria has said, we aren’t going to Morocco, because of their issues, so, what is the way forward?” the speaker asked.  

The Speaker’s directive followed a concern raised by John Nambeshe, the Opposition Chief Whip who expressed disappointment towards the failure of Minister Ogwang to honour his numerous pledges about the Namboole stadium construction works.

Silas Aogon (Kumi Municipality MP) has called for the resignation of all people behind the shoddy works at Mandela National Stadium and a detailed explanation of what went wrong during the renovation works.

“What was the issue so that we get to know early enough, otherwise, for us to miss this the Minister or the person responsible will have to vacate their position because this time as Uganda, we can’t lose that opportunity,” Aogon demanded.

Jonathan Odur (Erute South MP) warned that the failure by the government to address issues raised in CAF’s inspection report on the quality of works at Namboole would threaten Uganda’s chances of hosting other tournaments like CHAN and AFCON, in which the country submitted its bids.

Denis Hamson Obua, the government’s Chief Whip, informed Parliament of an ongoing meeting being held by Ogwang, and Markson Oboth, the Minister of Defence, who is representing UPDF & other officials. Obua also invited MPs to inspect the works done so far at Namboole to appreciate the progress government has made.