By Frank Kamuntu
City billionaire and Ugandan Consul to Nepal, Dr.Sudhir Ruparelia has confirmed that the multibillion Speke Resort Convention Centre, the host of the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77 (G-77) will be fully completed and ready for use by January 10, 2024.
Uganda is gearing up to host NAM summit that will attract over 120 heads of state seeking non-alignment with the world’s superpowers and will run from January 15 to 19, while the G77+China summit is slated for January 21-23.
According to our sources, Dr Sudhir revealed that the newly constructed Convention Centre, an extension of the Speke Resort Munyonyo will be officially inaugurated on January 10, 2024.
The development comes few days after President Museveni carried out an inspection and assessed on the progress of the facility to ascertain its readiness as to he was fully convinced that it will be ready given Dr. Sudhir’s track record of meeting construction deadlines moreover with exceptional quality.
During his tour earlier last month, President Museveni was shown around the modern multipurpose Convention Center which has facilities such as the high-end conference meeting rooms, and a 4,000 -seater auditorium.
The new convention center will have a main hall hosting 3,800 people, with 12 breakout session rooms. Once completed, the multi-billion center will also have a suspended restaurant overlooking Lake Victoria and smaller conference rooms or sideline meetings during the summit.
This is not the first time he will deliver a successful Public Private Partnership project as in 2007, he was able to deliver the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort that hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM).
The Centre has continued to host several high-profile meetings over the years.
The Non-Aligned Movement was founded in 1955 during the Asian-Africa meeting in Bandung, Indonesia, and pursued decolonization. It brings together countries that are not aligned with any of the rival Eastern and Western power blocs.