A section of Hoima City Members of Parliament (MPs) have expressed a mixed reaction, clouded with questions over communication gaps, after security officials denied them access to Hoima City Stadium on Thursday morning.

Members of Parliament, including Nyakato Asinansi, Woman MP Hoima City, Ismail Kasule, MP for Hoima West Division and Patrick Isingoma Obama, MP for Hoima East Division, were denied access to Hoima City Stadium.

The MPs had, however, been officially invited by the Minister of State for Education and Sports, Peter Ogwang, to attend a stakeholders’ meeting in preparation for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 event.

The incident left the legislators with a couple of questions, especially on communication gaps between different ministries, which left them with limited opportunities to communicate.

Asinansi Nyakato said: “We had been invited by Minister Ogwang and arrived at the stadium expecting the meeting to start at 9:00am as per the Minister’s invitation, only for security to deny us access to the stadium.

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“Some of the security personnel told us that the meeting was postponed and would instead take place at 2:00 pm before we were later informed that the meeting had been postponed,” she told tndNews, Uganda.

Nyakato added that there are several issues surrounding the management of Hoima City Stadium, including limited opportunities for local people to provide services.

MP Mwesigwa Patrick Obama accused the National Council of Sports of deliberately frustrating local leaders by failing to adequately involve them in matters concerning Hoima City Stadium.

Obama called on Minister Peter Ogwang to intervene and help bridge the communication gap between the National Council of Sports and local leaders in Hoima City.

He further said residents are facing several challenges related to the AFCON road projects, including cases where some people have denied access to their land for the AFCON road developments and are seeking compensation.

MP Ismail Kasule told tndNews, Uganda, “What surprised us was the difficulty we faced in gaining access to the stadium.”

Kasule, however, called on the Ministry of Education and Sports to address the issue so that local people can be better informed and involved in preparations for AFCON 2027.

The legislators have questioned the circumstances surrounding the denial of access and the subsequent postponement of the meeting.

“We arrived here early enough to attend the stakeholders’ meeting, which we were invited to attend by the Minister, Peter Ogwang, the meeting which was supposed to commence at 9:00am.”

The MPs said it is quite surprising that they were not informed of the postponement of the meeting by the Minister before facing security at the facility in the morning.