Rwanda: Kagame Speaks Out On Kigali Pele Stadium Lighting Issues
2 min readPresident Paul Kagame has spoken out about the Kigali Pelé Stadium generator which has on multiple times failed to provide adequate lighting, forcing the Rwanda Premier League Board to reschedule evening fixtures to earlier kickoff time.
The controversy surrounding the stadium’s generator resurfaced on Thursday, August 22, when the City of Kigali notified the Rwanda FA and the league board that the facility won’t host evening matches during the next three months due to unresolved issues with the generator.
“Today, the generator we have at Kigali Pelé Stadium is not able to power all the lights sufficiently for night games,” the City of Kigali said in an X post.
“To resolve the issue permanently, a generator with the required capacity has been ordered.”
The stadium, the city officials said, will get the new generator in three months’ time.
However, reacting on the issue via his X account, Kagame expressed his dissatisfaction on how the city officials are handling the issue, saying that “This should NOT have happened in the first place.”
Rayon Sports were the first to be vulnerable of the city’s decision to reschedule evening fixtures to earlier kickoff as they were expected to host their Matchday Two against Amagaju FC at Kigali Pele Stadium on Friday, August 23, at 6:00 PM.
The announcement sparked widespread debate on social media, where the City of Kigali initiated a discussion on the matter.
Kigali Pele Stadium was inaugurated in March 2023 after renovations. The ceremony, which took place on the sidelines of the 2023 FIFA Congress held in Kigali, was officiated by Kagame and world football governing body (FIFA) president Gianni Infantinio.
By New Times.