Members of Parliament from the Lango Sub-region on Monday toured the Akii-Bua Olympic Stadium in Lira City to get first-hand assurance that the mega facility will be ready to host matches during the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
The delegation, led by Lango Parliamentary Group Chairperson Mr. Patrick Ogwang Obura, inspected the sprawling construction site, assessed workmanship, engaged the contractor’s technical team, and listened to concerns from the local community.
What they found, the lawmakers said, was encouraging. The Shs470 billion stadium being built by Egyptian firm SAMCO National Construction Company is advancing steadily.
“We have gone round it. We have seen the work in progress. We have seen very steady work that is promising,” Mr Ogwang Obura told journalists at the site.
He thanked President Museveni for fulfilling a pledge to the sub-region and commended the contractor.
“As chairman, Lango Parliamentary Group, once again, I want to thank the President for promising Lango and for fulfilling it. You can stand here and see a mega project of the stadium. We also want to thank the leadership of SAMCO, and the technical team, for ensuring that this project is delivered,” Mr. Ogwang Obura said.
Timeline pushes into 2027
Project Manager Eng. Mohammed Nazih told the legislators that works had reached the 75 percent mark as of Monday.
But MPs cautioned that the initial December 2026 completion date cited to Parliament may no longer hold.
“The Project Manager, we have seen the progress you’re making. It is promising, though in Parliament, we are told by December you would be done with this project. But from this visit, we are now learning that this may go up to January or February,” one legislator noted.
The contractor’s revised schedule shows construction began on May 3, with completion now set for February 2, 2027 – just weeks before AFCON kicks off.
Access road and community concerns
The inspection also exposed infrastructural gaps. While a 1.8-kilometre access road to the stadium has been built, MPs found its width inadequate for the expected traffic of vehicles and spectators.
To address this, the Lango Parliamentary Group said it will push for negotiations with Uganda Prisons Service to acquire neighboring land to widen the road.
Lawmakers also flagged the need for a formal profiling and compensation exercise for community members affected by the project, to ensure all legal and social obligations are honoured before momentum toward AFCON 2027 is lost.
The group thanked the technical teams, contractor, and local community for their cooperation, describing the stadium as more than infrastructure – “a unifying symbol for football fans and residents alike” – that will rise under the watch of the City Mayor and the Resident City Commissioner.
About the project
The Akii-Bua Olympic Stadium is financed by the Government of Uganda, with the National Council of Sports as client. President Yoweri Museveni flagged off construction of the 20,000-seat facility on January 29, following the contract signing with SAMCO on December 6, 2024. The contractor was given 20 months to deliver.
Once complete, the stadium will feature a 20,000-seat main bowl with an athletics track, training facilities with at least two changing rooms, a 2,000-seat multi-sport indoor arena, a 25-metre semi-Olympic swimming pool, and outdoor courts for basketball, netball, volleyball and badminton.
Other components include a 1,000-vehicle parking facility, a fully furnished clubhouse, a 60-room hostel, five sports pitches, a borehole, plus roads, utilities, ICT systems, a sewerage treatment plant, landscaping, perimeter fencing and security systems as Lira positions itself to host continental football in 2027.