The construction of the Rwf4 billion four-star Rwanda Football Federation hotel is set to resume next month, according to FERWAFA and the Ministry of Sports and Culture. The ground-breaking activities of the four-storey hotel building started last August but in February it was halted by Kigali City Authority because of lack of construction permits. The Minister of Sports and Culture, Julienne Uwacu has confirmed on Friday that the construction will resume, after acquiring a proper paperwork. The hotel is being built on the section of land subsequent to the FERWAFA headquarters in Remera, formerly occupied by Rwanda Police. She said that, “The issue of the construction permit has been sorted, we expect FERWAFA to receive the permit any time soon. We have been clear on this issue; construction came to a standstill because of lack of a construction permit. We work will resume because we don’t want to run a risk of losing the FIFA grant.” Minister Uwacu rebuffed claim that halting the construction was connected with the arrests of FERWFA secretary general, Olivier Mulidahabi, who is currently on remand over controversy in awarding the contract. FERWAFA president Vincent Nzamwita declined to comment on Mulidahabi’s court case, but insisted that work will resume in respect of, “upholding our relations with FIFA through its Goal Development Program.” The hotel will be built in four phases and the first will include a structure of 40 rooms. FIFA has provided a grant of $2,896,640 (approximately Rwf2bn) towards the project while the other half is a loan. Upon completion, the hotel is expected to ease on the cost that the Ministry of Sports and Culture (MINISPOC) incurs on national teams during residential training or accommodation for visiting national teams. FERWAFA is also expected to use the hotel for commercial purposes to generate income for different footballing activities. It will have a total of 100 rooms with a capacity to instantaneously host three national teams. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
