APM faults govt on stadiums
Immediate-past president Peter Mutharika has faulted the Ministry of Youth and Sports for its decision that the stadiums being constructed in Blantyre should not be given to domestic football giants FCB Nyasa Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers.
In 2019 while still in office, the former president ordered the construction of stadiums for the two teams, but when the Tonse Alliance was ushered into office, the ministry said the stadiums will not be given to the two teams because government does not construct facilities for private entities.
Commenting on the issue for the first time in an exclusive interview with Weekend Nation, Mutharika, appearing relaxed, said: “Each government has its own policies. I wanted the stadiums to belong to the two teams, that was my policy,
“But they [government] decided to change that, I don’t know for whatever reason. Obviously, they have the right since they are in control, but I think it’s probably wrong.
“I am surprised. But governments do construct all sorts of structures for all sorts of people, including private organisations. So, I don’t know the rationale [and] the philosophy behind it, but that’s their wisdom, so we will see what happens.”
He also hinted at reversing the status should his Democratic Progressive Party be voted back into power.
“We’ll see what arrangements we can make with the teams. But the most important thing is to complete the stadiums because if we are to develop sports, there is need to have good infrastructure. That’s the most important thing, not politics,” said Mutharika.
The former president also lamented the delay of the projects.
“I made that promise five years ago and that is a long time. So, I hope they will complete them,” he said.
Mutharika further said his promise to construct a new stadium in Blantyre still stands.
He said: “We made a lot of progress on that when we were still in government and the minister of sports then, discussed with groups overseas, both private and government. Some even visited the country for negotiations on funding and how the whole thing would be done and I am sure that we will be able to resume the negotiations when we get back into government.”
Mutharika said they also plan to rehabilitate Kamuzu Stadium into a world-class facility so that Blantyre can have two big stadiums.
He also said there is need to construct a new stadium in Mzuzu and rehabilitate the old one
“The one we have is very old, it’s not efficient,” he said.
Mutharika said there is need to invest in sports infrastructure at district level and in schools.
“When we come back into government, we will certainly continue with these projects. Eventually, I want a stadium in every district. It’s only 28 districts,” he said.
However, Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire challenged the former president to cite examples of facilities built by government for private entities.
Said the minister: “The former president is misguided because there is no way government can start constructing structures for private entities, it doesn’t work that way.
“There are laws that govern allocation of public resources and unless Parliament changes laws, it cannot happen.”
He said if the stadiums will be allocated to the two teams, then there will be conditions attached.
Early this year, the ministry changed the names of the two stadiums in accordance with their location.
The stadium meant for Bullets is being constructed in Zingwangwa Township near Moneymen along Chikwawa Road and was initially estimated to cost K3.8 billion while the Nomads one, being built in Soche was pegged at K3.6 billion.
While there has been some progress on the Soche Stadium, there has been little movement on the Zingwangwa project, where the contractor China Civil Engineering abandoned the project.
