Lusaka's Heroes Stadium will be ready for the inauguration. Nobody's said what its roof is really costing.

*Follow The Money* ## What's done, and who's doing it Three government bodies and two security services are working the site at once, and the officials involved are on record about it. Permanent Secretary Kangwa Chileshe of the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Arts confirmed VIP facilities, carpeting, tiling, landscaping and plumbing upgrades are complete, along with a repainted and refurnished Western VVIP Stand. Steven Makungu, Director of Preventive Maintenance Services at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, has overseen ablution block rehabilitation, a new gate, and ceiling, tile and glass replacements. The Zambia National Service and Zambia Air Force are handling structural and mechanical work; the Air Force is represented on site by Colonel Colins Chisenga, Director of Infrastructure, Planning and Design Development. Chisenga says the outstanding items are "expected to be completed by Sunday, August 23," the day of the ceremony itself. ## The one thing still not fixed properly The roof. Chileshe says the Zambia National Service is doing "roof-panel repairs" as a stopgap. Makungu has called the current work a "temporary intervention." The actual fix, a full replacement, is being negotiated separately with a Chinese company that neither official has named, and no cost estimate for that contract has been made public. ## This roof has already been paid for once this year The roof did not start failing this week. Zambia's ZSIC General Insurance paid the government a K2.6 million claim earlier this year for stadium roof rehabilitation, covering materials and installation, after what ZSIC Managing Director Trevor Jengajenga described as "severe storm winds" damaging it "in separate incidents." Youth, Sport and Arts Minister Elvis Nkandu accepted the payout on the basis that the stadium "remains a critical national asset." The ministry said at the time that roof works would "commence soon." Separately, in March 2026, Heroes Stadium direct