It was the return leg of the continental match, which KCCA won 3-2 but bowed out on 4-5 goal aggregate; the Ugandan side had lost the first leg 1-3 in Tunis. It was a double jeopardy for KCCA because the Lugogo-based side missed out on the lucrative group stage where they would have earned in excess of Shs 1 billion. It was that big a blow for the club.
Yet this is not the first time for KCCA to hire the Kitende stadium; in January, 2021, the club hosted AS Kigali at the same stadium and paid about Shs 50 million. The delayed refurbishment of Namboole stadium, which was closed in 2020 for renovations, has pushed all local clubs to host their continental games at Kitende.
Express FC and URA FC have also had to host their international matches there. Even Fufa has hosted a number of national team matches at Kited. What’s conspicuous in all this is that KCCA had the capacity to avoid paying huge sums to Kitende but technical and logistical delays have stagnated their own stadium project at Lugogo.
In all this, credit goes to Dr Lawrence Mulindwa, the proprietor of Kitende stadium, for providing a facility that has saved Ugandan teams from seeking opportunities abroad. He has disproved doubters against sports infrastructure investment and shown that nothing is impossible when one is focused.
OMONDI STADIUM A GOLDMINE
In 2020, KCCA embarked on the construction of the Phillip Omondi stadium, which was expected to be completed by 2023. However, construction has most often stagnated due to lack of funds and other technical issues.
Insiders have intimated to me that the club has secured all the necessary funds and work will soon resume after hiring a new construction company for the second phase of the construction.
KCCA had originally planned to construct a 6,000-seater stadium, but they are now planning to increase the capacity to over 15,000, which means construction, which was originally estimated to cost Shs 10 billion, might go up to Shs 15 billion. Let me restrict myself to the business part of the stadium.
The Omondi stadium complex is strategically located and, besides sports events, the stadium can host musical shows and religious gatherings. Just adjacent to the stadium is the Lugogo cricket oval and sports arena, which often host big events like musical shows and other gatherings.
The ventures provide government with a lot of money. I know plans are underway to pull down the cricket oval and pave the way for the construction of a modern, state-of-the-art multi-purpose indoor sports complex for 15,000 people.
As for the sports arena and other facilities such as a hockey court and sports hostel, they are going to be affected by the new development. When government recently handed the construction of the complex to a Turkish company, it was agreed that the facility would be ready in 18 months.
It is on this background that KCCA should get serious and complete the Omondi stadium in time so that they can take advantage of the absence of the cricket oval and other facilities that will be affected during the construction of the multi-purpose sports center.
KCCA may also benchmark Rwanda and see how the Kigali government is making money through the Bank of Kigali arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena. Just on the naming rights, the Rwandan sports ministry reportedly got a six-year deal from the Bank of Kigali worth $10 million (Shs 37 billion).
The arena, which was constructed by Summa, has already hosted several international sports events and high-level conferences that have earned the facility millions of dollars.
So, KCCA should benchmark such endeavours and this might help the city authorities have a facility that might not turn into a white elephant.
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