Race Against the Clock: Uganda Pours Shs14.24bn Into Hoima’s Water Supply Ahead of AFCON 2027

Long before a ball is kicked at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, the real contest in Hoima City is playing out underground — in pipes, pumps and a treatment plant racing to be ready in time.
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has unveiled a Shs14.24 billion emergency water project for Hoima City, designed to shore up supply ahead of the continental tournament that Uganda will co-host with Kenya and Tanzania — the first time AFCON has ever been shared by three nations. Hoima is one of three Ugandan host cities, alongside Kampala and Lira, and is expected to draw a surge of fans, teams and infrastructure demand when the tournament kicks off in 2027.
NWSC Managing Director Dr Eng Silver Mugisha announced the project, known internally as “Hoima 2,” at a media briefing at the corporation’s Nakasero headquarters. The system will draw raw water from the River Kafu in neighbouring Kikuube District, run it through a new conventional treatment plant, and transmit it into Hoima City via a bulk water transfer system. Jointly funded by the Ugandan government and NWSC, the project is expected to take eight months to complete and will be built by Zhonghao Overseas Construction Engineering Company Limited, whose leadership pledged to deliver on time, on budget, and with local labour mobilised from surrounding communities.
Dr Mugisha didn’t mince words about the stakes. “Time delays will not be acceptable,” he told the contractor’s representatives, Managing Director Ma Yongqian and Deputy Managing Director Wang Feifei, directly. The urgency isn’t only about football: Hoima sits at the heart of Uganda’s fast-growing Albertine oil and gas region, and the city’s existing water network — Dr Mugisha said — is no longer enough to keep up with rapid urban growth, let alone a continental tournament. The new system is meant to bridge that gap in the short to medium term, supporting everything from the city’s planned stadium and Kabalega International Airport to hotels, businesses and residential areas bracing for an influx of visitors.
It’s also just the opening phase. NWSC is simultaneously finalising designs for a far larger “Hoima 3” Water Supply System, intended to substantially expand long-term production, transmission and storage capacity, eventually merging with Hoima 2 into a single, more resilient network. Dr Mugisha used the announcement to make a direct appeal to government: fund Hoima 3 as soon as the designs are complete, he said, calling it essential not just for AFCON readiness but for “Uganda’s broader economic transformation agenda.”
For a city better known until recently for oil rigs than football stadiums, Hoima’s water taps may end up telling their own story about how fast Uganda is trying to grow into its moment on the continental stage.

Source DAILY MONITOR