Kamuzu Stadium is a sure hazard

So much has been said about the condition of Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. The stadium, which is used as home for Blantyre-based Nyasa Big Bullets and Be Forward Wanderers, was once partially closed after an assessment report recommended that it shouldn’t be used because it posed a danger to people.

It was declared unfit due to its dilapidated state, poor sanitation and the artificial turf which had outlived its life-span.

There was a time I and my friends sneaked out of the office to watch a game at Kamuzu Stadium, it was during week days. We sat on the bottom terraces but every time those who sat a few terraces above us jumped, the whole stand shook. That was almost four years ago.

I love football just like so many other Malawians do. But, I get angry every time politics rears its ugly face on this matter. I understand when it was partially closed, the then Minister of Sports Enock Chihana, was under pressure from ‘Malawians’ to re-open it for matches despite the recommendations that it shouldn’t be used. Up to this date, I am not sure whether these were really ‘Malawians’ or it was some political party zealots who, as has become the norm, were willing to put the lives of Malawians in danger just to please their political masters.

Since then, the issue of Kamuzu Stadium has turned political, with politicians trying to score cheap goals using football lovers as bait. These people ignore everything else just for the sake of them being applauded that they opened the stadium for matches.

Big teams such as Nyasa Big Bullets and Be Forward Wanderers have been in existence for such a long time, why they do not have their own stadia is beyond comprehension. The fact that these two, and others, have no grounds is of nobody’s making, it is their own inefficiencies that have caused this. Don’t let football fans pay for their inefficiencies.

There is a reason politics is not encouraged to interfere in sports. The issue of Kamuzu Stadium is a perfect example why politics and politicians shouldn’t be anywhere near sports. They only come to confuse and cause chaos. Sports is one of the few things that unites people of different political affiliations.

Kamuzu Stadium, in its old form, has served its purpose, now it’s time to put up a modern structure.