Hoima City Stadium set for official opening
President Yoweri Museveni will preside over the official opening of the 20,000-seater multi-purpose stadium to the public on Wednesday (Christmas Eve).
Hoima City Stadium in Uganda's western city of Hoima. (Courtesy)
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After months of round-the-clock work, Hoima City Stadium in Uganda's western city of Hoima is ready for official opening after the Turkish contractor, MS Summa, handed over the finished multi-sports facility to the government on Monday (December 22).
Next up, President Yoweri Museveni will preside over the official opening of the 20,000-seater multi-purpose stadium to the public on Wednesday (Christmas Eve).
Uganda signed the contract with Summa for this 129 million-dollar (463 billion-shilling) project in June 2024, in preparation for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which Uganda will co-host with neighbours Kenya and Tanzania.
Since then, it has been day and night of hard work to see the project to its completion.
On the eve of the grand commissioning, Summa handed over the complex to the National Council of Sports (NCS) on behalf of the government.
Present were officials from the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Ministry of Works and Transport, who have been the supervising consultants of the project.
Rev. Canon Dr Duncans Mugumya, the commissioner of physical education and sports, presided over the handover ceremony at the stadium. He represented the education ministry's permanent secretary, Dr Kedrace Turyagenda.
Uganda presented contractor Summa with a certification of completion.
As part of the day's formalities, Summa's project manager, Murat Altun, took the government officials on a guided tour of the different components of the facility.
The Turkish firm then handed over the facility to the government, led by NCS board chairperson Ambrose Tashobya.
The officials thanked President Museveni and First Lady Janet Museveni, who is the education minister, for supporting, with financial backing, the transformation of the Hoima City Stadium dream into reality.
They also hailed the contractor for executing the job with commitment, efficiency, high quality and within the agreed-upon time.
In fact, Summa has completed the project five months ahead of the deadline.
Project manager Eng. Ivan Gombya and his team of engineers and other technical experts from the works ministry were also praised for their supervisory work.
All is now set for Wednesday's grand opening by President Museveni on a much-anticipated day that will also feature a number of sporting activities.
According to the official programme released by NCS, gates will open at 9am, with entry strictly by ticket.
On the ticket issue, NCS provided clarity when responding to a comment by a user on social media platform X.
The X user had suggested that entrance should have been "free and to all".
NCS responded: "Most of those in attendance will actually be from Hoima and [the] rest of Bunyoro, but they will have tickets because of the automated turnstile system and the stadium's seating capacity. The tickets are not being sold to them."
On the day of the commissioning, there will also be a relay race, a football match between Kitara FC and KCCA FC plus a rugby match on the auxiliary pitch.
A fireworks display has also been prepared to crown the day.