Ham: Nakivubo stadium completion only possible with God’s blessings

KAMPALA, UGANDA: Businessman Hamis Kiggundu alias Ham has revealed that the completion of Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium will only be made possible based on God’s blessings as project faces public criticism over delayed reopening.

In 2017, Kiggundu through his company Ham Enterprises under a public-private partnership with Government of Uganda and Roko Construction commenced reconstruction and renovation of the Nakivubo Stadium in what was a big to uplift the face of downtown Kampala and setup a state-of-art modern sports facility in the central business district.

Whereas the project is showing progress after now five years, Ham decries that despite his efforts to fast-track the project, the recent wave of the covid-19 pandemic made the work more complicated and thus distorted their preset timelines for the completion.

Ham says the pandemic led to the prices of materials to skyrocket, leaving him in a tight position, but God’s providence has ensured a breakthrough.

“The projection within which we should finish the stadium was extended because of the COVID-19 pandemic which affected us greatly, and the cost of materials went high. We were to cost about $50m but now the pandemic ensured we go up to $157m,” Ham said when asked on when the stadium will be completed.

He added; “With God, everything is possible because it is because of his blessing that I have managed to come this far.”

However, an unnamed source confidant with the development of the stadium project tipped this website that government has failed to fulfil its part as per the contractual agreement leaving the burden entirely to Ham, and thus explains why the completion remains complicated.

Additionally, the source further acclaim that as part of the agreement, Ham was supposed to construct the shopping mall surrounding the stadium (which he did) and government through Roko construction to take on the stadium (ground and seating area), but along the way, everything fell to Ham alone.

Nakivubo stadium was meant to finish by the end of 2019 but has now entered the third year triggering public criticism from the public against the businessman and Roko construction.

Currently, the development of Nakivubo Stadium is at 75% and the 35000-seater facility is also expected to house other sports activities like athletics, netball, bodybuilding, basketball, volleyball, boxing, and fitness centers among other sports activities.

The businessman however assures that never-the-less, by 2025, Uganda will be hosting its national, continental and international games from Nakivubo Stadium because the building team has done surveys in countries with internationally recognized stadiums and the beautiful ideas are being implemented here.