Public set to have a feel of newly-built Hoima City Stadium

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The newly-built Hoima City Stadium in Uganda's western city of Hoima opens its gates to the public today (Wednesday) after it was handed over to the government by the Turkish contractor, MS Summa, on Monday.

The multi-sports facility was completed way ahead of the deadline and is now set for use.

President Yoweri Museveni will preside over the official opening of the 20,000-seater multi-purpose stadium, an event many in the local sporting fraternity have christened a perfect Christmas gift to Ugandans.

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 a day and night of hard work to see the project to its completion.

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 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 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.

Tickets are free of charge

All is now set for today'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. Tickets for this one are free of charge, with thousands of people already in the queue to secure their tickets.

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.