Peter Ogwang is for the fourth time since his appointment as sports state minister expected to inspect the Teryet National High Performance Training Centre in Kapchorwa district today (Friday).

“We need to fix the date for the official commissioning," he said ahead of his trip.

"However, before that, I have to travel and see if the previous recommendations and directives I put in place have been followed."

After inspecting the sh28 billion high altitude training facility, the minister will brief the Minister of Education and Sports and the First Lady, Janet Museveni, on the findings.

When a date has been agreed on, President Yoweri Museveni and the sports minister are expected to preside over the unveiling of the training centre.

As of now, most of the facilities at Teryet have been worked on, with officials putting the general completion rate standing at 96 per cent.

Work at the parking lot is at the final stages. Photo By Javier Silas Omagor

“The national athletics team that is about to leave the country for Budapest World Championships 2023 has been conducting training sessions at Teryet already and that is a clear sign of how much progress has been made,” said Ogwang, who is also the Ngariam county MP.

He will be accompanied by a select team from the National Council of Sports led by general secretary Dr Bernard Ogwel and other officials from the Uganda Athletics Federation led by Rev. Dominic Otuchet, the federation president.  

On his previous visits to the training centre, Ogwang demanded standard work and expedition of progress.

He directed the expansion of the staircase at the athletes’ hostel and reconstruction of some parts in the kitchen, dining hall and jogging track, which had defects.  

At the time, the minister was also unhappy to find that instead of the recommended eight lanes, Teryet’s main track had only six.  

His last visit there was when he accompanied celebrated British sports commentator Rob Walker.  

Ogwang's first inspection of Teryet as sports minister came in early September 2022. During that trip, h toured the 3.4 kilometres of the arena, the track, water pond, golf arena, hostels, gatehouse, kitchen and dining hall, before chairing a site-assessment meeting.  

In January last year, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja also visited the training facility, saying that it would lead to “an explosion of talent development" in Uganda.

She toured part of the centre and planted trees around the area.

Denis Hamson Obua, Ogwang's predecessor, regularly visited Teryet to monitor the construction progress. High-ranking officials from the line ministries and from State House have previously travelled to Kapchorwa for supervision.

In a bid to fuse education and sports, the athletics training facility also features both a primary and secondary school, costing over sh2.5b.

Besides athletics, Teryet, which sits on a 2,575-metre elevation, will also host training for football, basketball, volleyball, golf and other disciplines.

According to the sports ministry, once Phase One is commissioned, Phase Two which includes construction of a five-star hotel, swimming pool and a pavilion, will get underway.

The training centre idea was inspired by great performances by Ugandan athletes on the international scene, which impressed President Yoweri Museveni and the nation at large.

Wins by the likes of Moses Kipsiro, Dorcus Inzikuru and Stephen Kiprotich particularly impressed the head-of-state, who then directed the construction of the facility in 2012 to ease the athletes' training and nurture more talent.

But the state-financed project works only got underway in 2017.  

It was projected to last three years, with Chinese construction company COMPLANT in charge of the sh25b project.

But the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the works.