KCCA Football Club Chief Executive Officer Anisha Muhoozi has outlined the reasons behind the delays in completing the VIP stand at the club’s MTN Omondi Stadium in Lugogo.
The club had initially set a completion timeline for 2023, but multiple setbacks; including design modifications, logistical challenges, and unforeseen scheduling conflicts, have repeatedly pushed the project back.
Despite assurances from KCCA FC Chairman Eng. Andrew Serunjogi Mukiibi that the stand would be completed by December 2024, the stadium remains unfinished as of February 2025.
In an exclusive interview with NBS Sport, Muhoozi explained that one of the key reasons for the delay has been the need for adjustments to the initial construction designs.
“Construction is very tricky. You project something, but then you encounter challenges along the way,” she said.
“There have been some delays, but they are very explainable. When you’re building something on plan and you find that it won’t necessarily work, you have to make some tweaks.”
According to Muhoozi, the biggest challenge currently is erecting the roof of the stand.
The CEO revealed that this requires the use of a large crane, but the club lacks the necessary space around the stadium for such equipment.
The club had planned to utilize the pitch for the construction process, but with the second half of the Uganda Premier League set to resume next week, this is no longer a viable option.
“The challenge we have now is with the roof. Because of the heaviness of the roof, we need to use a big crane to erect it, and we do not have space around us, so we need to use the pitch,” Muhoozi explained.
“The games are resuming, so we can’t use the pitch. We are still going back and forth to see how best we can work around it.”
KCCA is set to host NEC, who rent MTN Omondi Stadium, on Thursday, February 13, before welcoming Vipers SC at the same venue on Sunday, February 16.
The scheduling of these fixtures further complicates the club’s ability to proceed with construction.
Muhoozi also pointed to the unexpected postponement of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 as factor that disrupted their plans.
Uganda was originally set to host the tournament from February 1 to 28, during which time the Uganda Premier League would have been on hold, allowing the club to proceed with key construction work.
However, CHAN was rescheduled to August, forcing the league to resume and leaving the club with no window to carry out the necessary construction.
“Initially, we thought that we’d be in CHAN during this time. When CHAN was postponed, we had to reorganize ourselves, and that caught us a bit off guard. We hadn’t anticipated it,” Muhoozi admitted.
“So now we have to go back to the drawing board and see how best we can handle the issue.”
Despite the ongoing challenges, Muhoozi ruled out relocating KCCA’s home matches to another stadium, citing the limited number of venues in the country that meet the required standards.
“A change in home ground may be a bit of a challenge because there are not so many stadiums in the country that can host games sufficiently,” she noted.
The construction of the VIP stand at MTN Omondi Stadium began in 2021 under Sarjan Construction, but the project has faced multiple delays.
Initially set for completion in 2023, the timeline was pushed due to challenges related to the release and approval of funds.
In November 2023, club patron Erias Lukwago set a new completion target for August 2024, which was later moved to October and then December 2024.
In February 2024, the second phase of the construction works was officially commissioned by the State Minister for Sports, Hon. Peter Ogwang, but progress has been slower than expected.
