After the disappointment expressed about the Mandela National Stadium, popularly known as Namboole, the engineer in charge of the renovations says the stadium will be ready for the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Fans who attended the two Uganda Premier League games at Namboole were left unimpressed with the work done at the time, given the huge budget.
However, Lt. Col. Peter Kidemuka, the UPDF Project Engineer has promised that Namboole will be ready for Uganda’s next international assignment.
“We are almost there,” Kidemuka said. “I believe by June 7 when we host the first official game, all will be complete and we shall have a world class stadium,” he assured on a tour of the Cathedral of Ugandan football.
There a number of visible changes to the infrastructure since those May 1st test matches. Workers were busy on the big screen which was faulty when fans descended on Workers Day.
Floodlights, which were dim and cast shadows on the pitch have been ordered, according to Kidemuka.
“We have ordered the floodlights from the best company in the world and are customized for Namboole. We have ordered 212 floodlights and when installed, you see a clear pitch with no shades,” explained Kidemuka.
A separate media tribune housing 120 working people has been completed. This should please journalists who had to sit with the fans on the 1st of May. The fans themselves will be happy with the new automated access control system for entering Namboole.
The VIP section has also been fixed, and is now bulletproof. All the washrooms are now fully functional. Security concerns are lessened with marking of all parking bays and clear signage in and around the stadium.