The sports fraternity could wait a little longer for completion of stalled sports projects as government is yet to release funds for the projects.
This comes four months after Parliament passed the 2026/27 National Budget estimated at K10.9 trillion.
The stalled projects include the Griffin Saenda Indoor Sports Complex in Area 48 in Lilongwe, the Aquatic Sports Complex in Area 17 in Lilongwe, Soche Stadium and Zingwangwa Stadium in Blantyre.
In this year’s National Budget, the Griffin Saenda Sports Complex was allocated K1.5 billion while the Aquatic near Kamuzu Institute for Sports got K1 billion.
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Blantyre projects for FCB Nyasa Big Bullets in Zingwangwa and Mighty Wanderers in Soche were allocated K2.5 billion. The projects have taken more than five years without completion.
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Both Griffin Saenda and Aquatic Sports Complex hosted the 2022 African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games but are yet to be completed.
In December last year, Saenda Complex hosted the Africa Netball Cup amid concerns over an unfinished project whereas the Aquatic Complex has turned into a white elephant having not hosted any sporting event for the past four years.
Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture spokesperson Macmillan Mwale was non-committal on when works will resume at the two facilities.
“Currently, we are waiting for funding. I cannot tell you the time frame on when the projects will continue because there are procedures,” Mwale said.
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The two projects stalled when the contract sum rose to K15 billion from the initial K7 billion.
Currently, the ministry owes the contractor for Saenda Complex over K5 billion dating to 2022.
Asked if the K1.5 billion was enough to complete the project, Mwale said the money would be used to settle debts with the contractors.
“We still owe the contractors huge sums of money for the project. They used their money to do most of the work. We have already submitted all the documents to the relevant authorities to clear the arrears,” he said.
Now, amid rising costs of commodities such as building materials, the contract sum could change further, which could delay the projects for many years.
The delay to complete the projects have affected several sporting codes including netball, basketball, football and swimming.
Basketball Association of Malawi (Basmal) General Secretary Peter Gomani said the delay to complete the Saenda Complex has had a negative impact on the game.
“It is a big setback. We have missed several opportunities to host international tournaments due to lack of proper infrastructures in Malawi,” he said.
On the part of the Saenda project, the scope of work also changed, to accommodate other sporting codes such as basketball, volleyball and handball.
Malawi Aquatic Union (Mau) General Secretary Beatrice Makwenda said lack of proper facilities was a big challenge.
“The delay has affected swimming because we lack a proper public pool and a long-course facility for training. Our athletes are preparing for several competitions but limited access to suitable facilities affect their preparations and performance,” Makwenda said.
Sports analyst Parry Chinyama said the delay to complete the projects has the potential to affect sports development in the country.
“Infrastructure is a big challenge in the country. We cannot talk of mass participation in sports if we do not have enough facilities,” he said.
Construction of both Saenda and Aquatic projects started in 2021.
