National Council of Sports

HOIMA CITY STADIUM: PRESIDENT MUSEVENI IMPRESSED WITH PROGRESS, LOOKS TO FURTHER SPORTS INFRASTRUCTURE

*HOIMA* - President Yoweri Museveni has asked Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja to raise matters regarding the facilitation of building of new hotels in Hoima City, as well as boosting emergency health services and roads, in Cabinet next Monday.

The President said this yesterday, right after he had unveiled the foundation stone of the fast-rising Hoima City Stadium which is one of the designated venues for 2027 African Cup of Nations finals to be hosted by East African neighbours Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Presiding over the function alongside First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni, the President was reacting to observations from State Minister of Sports Hon. Peter Ogwang and suggestions from Hoima City Mayor Brian Kaboyo that government incentivise the private sector with loans from UDB and the like.

Mayor Kaboyo revealed that his city currently had only 1700 beds or thereabouts, but would need around 20,000 beds to accommodate the projected influx of visitors for the AFCON tournament in 2027. The President was confident the gap would be filled, citing the success story of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) as a result of which the number of hotel beds in host city Kampala had grown from around 4000 prior-to, to upwards of 20000 during and after.

President Museveni was however impressed by the speed at which Turkish construction giants SUMMA were going about constructing the stadium itself, along with all the other components of project which will make it the model modern day multi-discipline facility until the similarly designed Akii-Bua complex is later completed by Egyptian contractor SAMCO.

“This SUMMA seems to be a serious company, considering how much they have accomplished in a short period of time. I would like to congratulate them,” said the President, who confirmed that the Turks would embark on the second phase of the construction of Namboole Stadium, once they had wrapped up in Hoima.

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Home » JACOB KIPLIMO SMASHES HALF MARATHON WORLD RECORD
JACOB KIPLIMO SMASHES HALF MARATHON WORLD RECORD

KAMPALA - History-making Jacob Kiplimo has today made his first public appearance in Uganda in the wake of his world-shattering feat in the half marathon.

Kiplimo, the first man to run 21km under 57 minutes when he lowered the world record from 57.23 to 56.41 in Barcelona at the Barcelona Half Marathon on Sunday (16 February), was ‘unveiled’ by the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) at a press conference at their Metropole House headquarters on Entebbe Road.

The UAF also used the presser to reveal they were celebrating a monumental 100 years of existence as a Federation this year, and to launch the Source of The Nile Half Marathon which will take place in Jinja this Sunday, February 23rd, 2025.

A true global icon and superstar, Kiplimo is a multiple major medallist and holder of several other national and global records on the track. He was quick to thank government for their role in his and the general improvement of athletics in the country and on the international stage, and his words were echoed by UAF President Dominic Etuchet who hailed government for it’s increasing and timely financial and moral support to his Federation and the athletes.

Hoima- Like the iconic modern day Allianz Arena, home to German football giants Bayern Munich, the Hoima City Stadium will be a glowing, multi-coloured maze lighting up the Bunyoro skyline when complete.

Uganda’s second national stadium is destined to be an illumination of the black, yellow and red of the national flag, a beautiful sight to be savoured by the pupils of Maranatha’s Primary School just across the road, the local residents in houses on the sprawling hills around the stadium, motorists driving by on the Masindi-Hoima Highway, and the millions of television viewers of the AFCON 2027 Football Finals and beyond. The touring team from the National Council of Sports Board and Secretariat learnt of this from the Turkish contractors SUMMA who are fast making this multi-sports complex dream a stunning reality right before our eyes.

Having inspected the largely similar Akii-Bua Stadium project in Lira in the morning, the NCS entourage had trekked from Lango to Bunyoro and made it in time to take in the sights and sounds of a project whose physical works on the ground are as awe-inspiring as the blueprints and drone images that made up SUMMA’s detailed presentation in the boardroom prior-to the walk-around.

LIRA* - The National Council of Sports tour and inspection of strategic sports infrastructure around the country saw the Board and Top Management (NCS) visit Lira City and make stops at the Akii-Bua Stadium and Lira University earlier today. At the construction site of the $129.7m Akii-Bua Stadium and multi-sports complex, the Egyptian contractor SAMCO’s Project Manager, Engineer Mohammed Nazir, took the NCS Team through details of the blueprints of the design-and-build undertaking, as well as updated them on ongoing works.

The site is a buzz of activity characterised by graders, trucks and men on the move under scorching heat and clouds of dust, and Nazir revealed that earthworks were almost 100% done, that concrete works were to commence in a few days, and that materials for steel works had already been and were still being imported into the country. Addressing Board Members Moses Omara Anyii (representing the Chairman), Cecilia Anyakoit, Piloya Evelyn Gloria and Stephen Kiprotich, as well as General Secretary Dr Bernard Patrick Ogwel and his team, Nazir thanked government for the timely release of funds, and assured all that his team was working in tandem with Lira City Council to ensure that the project was in compliance with environmental and social safeguards.

The training grounds currently being constructed within Greater Kampala and those planned for Lira, Gulu, Hoima and Masindi in preparation for the CHAN 2025 and AFCON 2027 football tournaments, are designed to have standard size pitches fitted with floodlights, perimeter fences, standard changing rooms, and a pavilion among other things.

*TERYET* - Appropriately described by the Commissioner for Physical Education and Sports as a delegation of duty and responsibility from father to son, the official handover of the National High Altitude Training Centre in Teryet, Kapchorwa, to the National Council of Sports took place this morning.
As directed by the First Lady and Minister of Sports, Maama Janet Museveni, and in accordance with the provisions in the new National Sports Act of 2023, the facility shifts into the hands of NCS who are now mandated with taking charge of all sports infrastructure in the country.

Attended by several members from the Ministry, NCS, as well as the Kapchorwa District local leadership and a technical team of engineers and architects of the Project, the historic ceremony took place at the facility which is a whopping 2,555 metres above sea level.
Commissioner Mugumya, representing State Minister for Sports Hon. Peter Ogwang and Permanent Secretary Dr. Kedrace Turyagenda.

On the receiving end were NCS Board Chairperson Ambrose Tashobya and Members Moses Anyii Omara, Piloya Evelyn Gloria and the legendary Stephen Kiprotich, whose monumental marathon gold medal run at the 2012 London Olympics was the inspiration behind President Yoweri Museveni’s sanctioning of the training facilty. NCS General Secretary, Dr Bernard Patrick Ogwel, led a big technical team from the NCS Secretariat.

Projected to help with talent identification, nurturing and preparation of Ugandan athletes for elite competition, as well as attracting international runners, boosting sports tourism and the country’s economy, the training centre’s *first phase* has since been completed and commissioned by the President. It includes a specially designed 3km jogging track, an artificial turf field for football and rugby certified by both FIFA and the IRU, floodlights, a 6-lane running track, a hostel block, kitchen and dining hall, site roads and parking, among several other things.

First up for Team Uganda at the

Let the Games Begin!

The Opening Ceremony is just a couple of hours away in Paris, France. Team Uganda will have four members in the medal hunt. Let’s go Ug, let’s go!

CURTAINS FALL: Team Uganda’s quest at the ended today with a marathon race highlighted by the remarkable, enduring efforts of Stella Chesang, who finished in the top 10 of a world class field. All three Ugandans came home. Up next is the Closing Ceremony tonight.

It was a rough morning out on a brutal, punishing course for the marathon men, but Team Uganda hoping for better hunting later tonight at the