The Ministry of Finance has
completed the budget and filed a supplemental request to Parliament for UGX86.4
billion. These money will be utilized to help finance the project.
Members on the Budget Committee
praised the project's forethought and hinted that the proposal would be
accepted.
The Convention Center is
expected to be completely operational in time for the NAM Summit in January of
next year. The NAM comprises 120 member countries that are not associated with
either the eastern or western power blocs. It was created in 1955 during the
Asia-Africa summit in Indonesia.
Uganda was elected as the NAM
chair from 2022 to 2025 and will host the convention the following year. The
administration expects the summit to boost the country's worldwide standing.
When finished, the facility
will have a 3,500-seat ultra-modern auditorium, a suspended restaurant with a
view of Lake Victoria, and smaller conference rooms for sideline discussions
throughout the summit.
At a closed-door meeting of the
NRM caucus headed by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, several MPs questioned
why the government was going into a joint venture rather than building their
own.
Many MPs, however, argued that the
government has the ability to develop such massive buildings, and that the
timeframes at which it builds its own structures, such as Parliament's Chambers
and Finance House, cannot fulfill the summits' deadlines.
It was also said that the
Convention Center would be critical for future international summits hosted by
the government.
Sudhir has a track record of
providing world-class facilities while fulfilling construction timelines. It
will not be his first successful public-private cooperation project; in 2007,
he completed the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, which hosted the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Conference (Chogm). Throughout the years, the center has
hosted a number of high-profile gatherings.