Uganda has handed one of its key Africa Cup of Nations 2027 training facilities to the Uganda People’s Defence Force Engineers Brigade for a KSh180 million redevelopment, as the country races to complete infrastructure for the continental finals it will co-host with Kenya and Tanzania.
The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) on Tuesday handed over FUFA Stadium Kadiba in Mengo, Kampala, to the government through the National Council of Sports (NCS), paving the way for the army engineers to undertake a six-month upgrade.
NCS says the works are valued at approximately KSh180 million and include installing a new standard natural grass pitch, drainage, electrical works and floodlights.
The timeline puts completion around February 2027, barely four months before AFCON kicks off on June 19.
State Minister for Sports Peter Ogwang has sought to calm concerns over Uganda’s readiness.
“I assure Ugandans that AFCON 2027 will take place in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in June next year,” Ogwang said.
The UPDF Engineers Brigade has also committed to the Kadiba deadline.
“The UPDF Engineers Brigade is committed to completing these works with the highest quality of workmanship,” Col James Lwegaba said at the handover.
For FUFA president Moses Magogo, the redevelopment represents more than preparations for a month-long tournament.
“It’s very historic for us that where our talents have been developed is eventually becoming a home of football,” Magogo said.
FUFA first broke ground at Kadiba in April 2018 after Namirembe Diocese provided land for the football facility. The federation then estimated the wider project at approximately KSh569 million.
FIFA later supported Kadiba through its Forward programme, with investment in the technical centre equivalent to about KSh233 million.
But Kadiba is only one part of Uganda’s growing AFCON infrastructure bill.
Attention is also firmly on Mandela National Stadium, Namboole, Uganda’s main venue, where government has set December 31, 2026 as the deadline for completion of another major redevelopment.
“By 31st December, Namboole will be ready,” Ogwang said after his latest inspection.
“We shall have a stadium cover and a facade soon. UPDF are silently doing the work down there, despite many people doubting their capacity.”
Government has earmarked approximately KSh7.8 billion for Phase Two of the Namboole redevelopment after about KSh3.2 billion was spent on Phase One, taking the combined investment in the two phases to roughly KSh11 billion.
The latest phase is intended to bring the ageing stadium fully in line with CAF requirements.
Current works include increasing seating capacity from about 38,000 to 45,000, constructing a wave-shaped roof canopy and new exterior facade, relocating dressing rooms to the western wing and building a modern media centre capable of accommodating more than 100 journalists.
The wider redevelopment plan also includes expanded VIP and VVIP facilities, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, multi-purpose indoor arena and a hotel.
Namboole has undergone several rounds of redevelopment since it was handed to the UPDF Engineers Brigade in 2022, briefly reopening for Uganda Cranes matches and the African Nations Championship before being closed again for further work.
Kadiba, meanwhile, forms part of Uganda’s planned network of AFCON training grounds alongside facilities at Makerere University, Kyambogo University and the Namboole outside pitch.
The infrastructure race is increasingly important with less than a year remaining.
AFCON Pamoja 2027 will run from June 19 to July 17, 2027, becoming the first edition jointly staged by three countries and returning Africa’s premier football tournament to East Africa for the first time since Ethiopia hosted it in 1976.
For Uganda, the Kadiba and Namboole deadlines are therefore more than construction schedules. They are part of a narrowing window in which years of plans and billions of shillings must translate into facilities ready for Africa’s biggest football tournament.