MBABANE – Revealed!
The upgrading of Somhlolo National Stadium has faced a 16-year administrative delay, with the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs unable to produce the original blueprint or roadmap for the project.
The auditor general (AG) has revealed that the ministry failed to produce a Project Initiation Document for Project R22499.
This crucial document is required to serve as the implementation roadmap, outlining cost estimations and establishing a baseline for monitoring, evaluation and performance tracking.
According to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, the multi-million Emalangeni project commenced in 2010, but remains uncompleted 16 years later. The report noted that the lack of a baseline document has heightened risks of poor coordination, unclear accountability; budget overruns and compromised structural quality.
The controlling officer submitted to the committee that the records cannot be located. The ministry reportedly attempted to retrieve a duplicate copy from the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, but came up empty-handed. Only progress reports from 2014 and 2015 were recovered.
The controlling officer stated that while he believes the document exists, it simply cannot be found.
Despite the absence of the foundational paperwork to track historical expenditure, the minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs requested approximately E42 million in March 2026 for further works, which the report noted lacked a clear breakdown of how the funds would be used.
It is worth noting that this E42 million budget estimate, originally intended for the ongoing rehabilitation of the stadium, is now expected to be redirected to Microprojects.
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An aerial view of Somhlolo National Stadium. (Pic: Nsingizini Facebook)