Kamuzu Stadium management introduces charges for the public
Time for accessing Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre for free is over. Management of the stadium has decided to implement the charging of access fees ranging from K1,000 to K15,000 for individuals and teams.
Stadium Manager, Ambilike Mwaungulu, Thursday confirmed that they were simply enforcing a service charter for the owners of the facility, Ministry of Labour, Sports, Youth and Manpower Development.
“This is a government facility and its basic aim is to raise revenue for the central government, hence there is need that services that are rendered at the facility should be paid for.
“It is not expensive. It is not like the government is there to make a profit from the stadium. The facility is there to serve the public. For a long time, access to the stadium has been free of charge but it is not supposed to be like that. These charges are subject to change as reviewed by the ministry,” Mwaungulu said.
Individual training on the tracks and terraces will now be costing K1,000 per session and K10,000 for teams.
Fans will be paying K200 each to watch training for local clubs and K500 each for national teams and foreign teams.
Group photo-shooting is pegged at K2,500 per session with the photographer charged K1,000 whereas video shooting will be costing K5,000. Team training on the pitch is pegged at K15,000 per session.
The stadium will start charging the fees once renovations are finished. On average, 2,000 fans and athletes visit the facility per week to train and watch training.
Teams usually complain that, despite making more money from gate collections, the management of stadium takes time to renovate it.
But Mwaungulu said proceeds from the stadium go to the account one and funds for renovations are only released by treasury upon the approval of Parliament.
Director of Sports, Jameson Ndalama, reserved his comment on the fees, saying its implementation is under the jurisdiction of the stadium’s management.
Meanwhile, the first phase of renovations has started at the stadium.
Ndalama confirmed the start of the renovations but referred The Daily Times to his ministry’s spokesperson, Christina Mkutumula, for further questions.
The second phase of the renovations will involve the replacement of an artificial turf with a new one.
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