Nsundwe stadium project on course
Construction of a stadium at Nsundwe in Traditional Authority Kalolo in Lilongwe is taking shape after Lilongwe District Council awarded the contract to Bonongwe Building Construction.
The council in November 2023 invited bids for the construction of the stadium and ancillary works and on Monday announced it had identified a contractor for the project evaluated at K8 277 161 459. 47 to be funded by Ministry of Local Government.
Lilongwe District Commissioner Lawford Palani said in an interview yesterday that the awarding of the contract is a big step towards the beginning of the project.
He said: “We invited interested companies to submit their bids. It was an open bidding process. After evaluation, we have decided to award Bonongwe Construction Company.
“We have now asked those who may wish to be debriefed on the procurement to write us within 14 days. After the 14 days, we will be linking up with the contractor and the Nsundwe community to give them an update on the developments.”
Palani said they expect the project to begin soon after the process.
“We are really excited that we have made this progress and we are looking forward to the project getting started,” he said.
However, while the start of the Nsundwe Stadium project is sweet news for the area’s residents, other districts are crying foul over Ministry of Local Government’s delays to complete other stadium projects in Thyolo, Mchinji, Mzimba and Chitipa.
Thyolo-based football commentator Lameck Ntchavi Mbewe said the ministry should refrain from starting new projects when previous ones are yet to be completed.
He said: “It’s worrisome. We are surprised that Ministry of Local Government is in a rush to start these new stadium projects when we have other projects yet to be completed.
“For example the Thyolo Stadium project was supposed to be completed in 2019. It is now six years since it missed the deadline and we don’t even know when the stadium will be finished.
“Moreover, Lilongwe already has several sports infrastructures when other districts don’t have any and are waiting for the completion of their projects under the Ministry of Local Government.”
On his part, Mzuzu Youth Society projects coordinator Frank Chirambo bemoaned slow progress in construction of Mzuzu Youth Centre which is under Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The project was launched in 2012, but it has missed several deadlines.
He said: “It’s now over 10 years since we started talking of the Mzuzu Youth Centre project. It’s only last year that we saw some progress when the Tonse Alliance administration allocated K2.5 billion for the first phase.
“But there is very little progress on the project. We are now in August 2024 and the first phase is yet to be completed. This is a project worth K19 billion and it only got K2.5 billion in the 2024-25 National Budget for the initial phase.”
Chirambo called on government to balance sports infrastructure projects in all the regions.
“As the youth of Mzuzu, we are not happy. Look, Mzuzu only has Mzuzu Stadium which is also too small and not in a good state. When the stadium is closed, it means the city can’t host any elite football match. Lilongwe on the other hand, has Bingu National Stadium, Civo Stadium, Silver Stadium, Kamuzu Institute for Youth and Griffin Saenda Sports Complex. It’s not fair.” he said.
Ministry of Local Government public relations officer Anjoya Mwanza said he would revert, but had not done so at press time.
