The present state of the stalled construction works
* Their TNM Super League representatives Red Lions using Mpira Stadium in Blantyre as home
* Zomba City Council losing out on much needed revenue collection
* The Community Centre ground shouldn’t have been demolished as it still was playable for elite games
* A new place should have been identified to build such a new facility
By Draxton Maloya, Contributor
People of the City of Zomba continue to be starved of the TNM Super League matches despite having Red Lions as their representatives in the country’s elite league following the delayed construction of a new stadium.
Advertisement
The old sports facility, Zomba Community Centre, that hosted the elite games was demolished in 2019 to be turned into a better city stadium but construction works continue to be delayed till now.
Lack of a better alternative facility for elite football forces the city’s representative Red Lions to use Mpira Stadium at Chiwembe in Blantyre for their TNM Super League assignments — in which they are perched at 6th position.
At one point of the first round, Red Lions led the Super League twice before the season was suspended due to the second wave of the CoVID-19 pandemic while the Cobbe Barracks-based soldiers’ talisman Royal Bokosi became the first recipient of the revived TNM Super League ‘Player of the Month’ award for December for his outstanding performance.
Before the Lions were relegated to the Southern Region Football Association League three seasons ago, the soldiers from the old capital city used Balaka Stadium, a decision that benefited Balaka Town Council in revenue collection.
Zomba-based Red Lions currently 6th on TNM Super League table
Commenting on the development, Charles Maulidi — former chairperson for Zomba United FC which managed to be promoted to the elite League some seasons ago — expressed disappointment with the earlier decision to demolish the old Community Centre they used as home ground.
He said by then the old facility was still playable for TNM Super League games and the authorities should have first provided the city with the much-needed new facility.
Upon completion of the new facility, the old Community Centre could then have been rehabilitated to act as an alternative or to host two elite league matches at one go — opines Maulidi.
“It’s unfortunate that we have not watched top Super League games here in Zomba for over 5 years now,” he said. “The construction progress is just too slow and it may even take another 3 to 5 years to get complete.
“Right now the contractor has stopped working on the site waiting for money and this has been the trend ever since the project started,” Maulidi said.
Ward Councilor for Zomba Town, Christopher Jana agreed with the Maulidi’s sentiments but accused the authorities — of which he belongs — for not been serious enough in revenue collection, whose main source could have been the stadium.
“It is very sad, the new government adminstration seems not to be interested in finishing construction of the stadium because progress has been too slow.
“The initial agreed period for the completion of construction works expired and currently government is failing to pay the contractor two certificates including upfront payment of K400 million which he applied for sometime back,” Jana said.
When contacted, Member of Parliament for Zomba Central Constituency, Bester Awali referred this reporter to the Council’s engineer, Mayamiko Kabango — who is yet to respond to our questionnaire emailed to him a couple of days ago.
The architecture plan for the stadium
Reports indicate that Zomba City ward councillors had an audience with President Lazarus Chakwera at Sanjika in December last year where he had pledged to ensure completion of the stadium project but till now nothing has materialized.
In August 2019, soon after his appointment as Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ben Phiri made development tour of the Old Capital where, among other projects, inspected progress of the stadium.
Ben Phiri (in white) inspecting work progress in 2019
By then Phiri was appraised that the construction was in the final stages as the first phase was 90% complete and construction of terraces was underway.
He had been in the company of the City’s Mayor Benson Mbula; MP Bester Awali, the Ministry’s rural development director Malango Botomani, Principal Secretary Charles Kalemba, the city’s CEO Charles Thombozi, District Commissioner Emmanuel Bambi, and several councillors.
The Council’s director of engineering services, Ian Dolozi then had said they split the project into two phases — the first being the rehabilitation of the facility’s pavilion, whose main hall had undergone a complete overhaul provided with VIP stand whose top floor would house a conference room.
Dolozi briefing Ben Phiri
The next phase then, as according to Dolozi, was to involve construction of new terraces to accommodate 20,000 spectators.
Originally, as according to PS Kalemba then, the city’s plans were to construct a 5,000 seater stadium but former President Peter Mutharika had directed that it should sit 20,000 fans.
“The President directed that being the Old Capital, it should be accorded with a state of the art facility that can afford to host international matches,” PS Kalemba had said at the function, taking cognizance that other districts such as Karonga, Mulanje, Kasungu, Dedza, Mangochi, Balaka had already been provided with good stadium and Mutharika “saw it fit that Zomba should also have one.”
The then Minister Ben Phiri had said he was overly satisfied with the progress of the expansion works, saying the stadium could have by then been completed but was deliberately stalled in the run up to the 2019 Tripartite Elections.
He had said his visit was to assure the residents of the City that government was very committed to see that the stadium was completed so that the football fans should resume to enjoy high profile Super League matches, even to host international games.
“This is an important city historically being the Old Capital and it is the President’s wish to make it wear a new face,” he had said.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express
Coronavirus alert