Uganda’s countdown to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations has hit money trouble at the worst possible place — the airport meant to fly the party in.
The sh185b passenger terminal planned for Kabalega International Airport, the main air gateway to host city Hoima, has not moved past the drawing board. No contractor has been signed, and the Government is still searching for the money to plug a financing hole in the project, sports state minister Peter Ogwang admitted to Parliament on Thursday.
The confession landed in the middle of an otherwise upbeat progress report on the country’s AFCON preparations, delivered to a House chaired by Jacob Marksons Oboth. And it raises an awkward question with the tournament drawing closer: how do you welcome national teams, Confederation of African Football (CAF) delegates and planeloads of fans to an oil city whose airport terminal exists only on paper?
The Government’s answer, for now, is to keep the rest of the machine moving. Ogwang unveiled a sh101b war chest for hotels in Hoima and Masindi, to be dished out as cheap loans through the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) so that shortlisted proprietors can renovate and expand their way to CAF’s accommodation standards.
“In preparation for AFCON 2027, government, in consultation with CAF, has shortlisted prospective hotel owners whose facilities will be upgraded to meet the required accommodation standards,” Ogwang said.
“The funding will facilitate renovation works and provide interest rate support through the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) for approved service providers,” he told the House.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja had earlier in the day pulled hoteliers and UDB officials into one room to thrash out how and when the lending scheme will roll out. A brand-new hotel is also planned next to Kabalega airport itself, and Ogwang said developers are queueing up, with bid evaluation set to begin.
Away from the airport, the tools are out. The UPDF Engineering Brigade is rebuilding Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Masindi Municipal Hospital and Kiryandongo Health Centre III to handle emergencies and intensive care during the tournament. Rail lines linking Kampala, Mukono, Namanve and Namboole are being revived, with new passenger stations and rehabilitated locomotives lined up to ferry fans on match days. Technicians are wiring Wi-Fi and CCTV into Mandela National Stadium, Hoima City Stadium, Akii-Bua Stadium, training grounds, selected hospitals, transmission sites and CAF-accredited hotels.
But MPs were in no mood to applaud. Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi demanded to know how the Government chose which privately owned hotels get a slice of the sh101b. Hoima West MP Ismail Kasule accused the implementing ministries of freezing out local leaders, pointing out that roads to be upgraded in Kampala and Wakiso had been named in detail while Hoima — the actual host city — was left guessing. Nansana Municipality MP Zambali Bulasio Mukasa warned against any project sliding past its deadline, and Oboth reminded parliamentary committees they need nobody’s permission to go and inspect government works for themselves.
Ogwang held the line, insisting every piece of infrastructure will be delivered on schedule and promising to bring district leaders into the loop.
Uganda is staging the 2027 tournament jointly with Kenya and Tanzania under the East African Pamoja bid — the first time the three neighbours will throw Africa’s biggest football party together. But with Hoima’s hotels, hospitals and stadiums racing toward CAF’s bar, the terminal that should receive the guests remains the empty chair at the table. Until the Kabalega financing gap is closed, the party’s front door stays shut.
