By Wezzie Gausi:
The Ministry of Youth and Sports has revealed that the government does not have the resources for the construction of Mzuzu Stadium.
This comes despite the earlier pledge in the 2024-25 national budget that the government is to resume six major sports projects which stalled for the past 12 months due to lack of funds.
Presenting a ministerial statement to Parliament on Monday, Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire said the projects that stalled are currently underway except for the Mzuzu Stadium.
However, he said there are already plans to construct a mini stadium under the Mzuzu Youth Centre pegged at K1.5 billion.
“We understand the need to have the stadium in Mzuzu but with the current pool of resources, it is not possible to do so. But this does not mean we have abandoned the project. The government will continue looking for resources until we construct the stadium,” Mkandawire said.
Mzuzu City legislator Bennex Mwamlima said what had happened was not good.
He said the stadium had been ghosted for many years.
“We, the people of Mzuzu, need this stadium as soon as possible. We need to have national football matches being played in the North as well. This is very sad and it retards the growth of the city,”Mwamlima said.
Meanwhile, Mkandawire has said some projects’ costs have rocketed, which has forced the government to drop some contractors and advertise for new ones to fit into the budget allocations.
In the 2024-25 financial year, resources allocated to this sector will cater for the following construction projects: construction of Mzuzu Youth Centre, completion of the Griffin Saenda Indoor Sports Complex, completion of the National Aquatic Complex, completion of the Zingwangwa and Soche stadia and rehabilitation of Bingu National and Kamuzu stadia.
