Africa-Press – Uganda. You had barely settled in as sports Minister when the Covid-19 pandemic set in and your term elapsed, what did you achieve in the short time?
I started work officially on January 17, 2020 and that makes it one year and four months in office. I’m glad I got goodwill support from the senior minister and also the First Lady Mama Janet Museveni.
My first assignment was to bring stability in the two top notch sports bodies – National Council of Sports (NCS) and Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) – because they regulate and guide all the sports disciplines.
You’re aware they had a history of battles after battles. We were able to appoint new governing boards for both by doing fusion in the sense that the ultimate goal was to achieve cohesion.
Secondly, we gave priority to the process of repealing the old act of 1964, there was a need for us to review the 2014 sports policy, other factors remaining constant, next finance year we should be on the way to acting on the 1964 act repealing or amending.
Thirdly, we are working on sports infrastructure issues. I joined after the first phase of Teryet High Altitude Training Centre. Before long, the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown set in along with the elections’ distractions but we pushed on.
There is tremendous progress on the 11km Teryet road and materials can now be ferried. We are only waiting for importation of synthetic materials from Australia and Germany because some companies have closed down in the lockdown.
We are optimistic that before the end of this year, we will be able to commission the first phase of Teryet.
We committed much energy on the presidential directive of constructing two regional stadiums; Buhinga-Kabalore (western region) and Akii-Bua Olympic stadium in Lira (Northern region) – meant to be constructed with a grant from China.
There has been slow progress because China has asked for two consultancy firms for feasibility and environmental studies. We did that through the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) Act, we submitted comprehensive feasibility and environmental plans to the ministry of Finance. We are soon meeting the Finance ministry to see the project fast-tracked because we did our part.
The other project I found running was the public private arrangement with a private developer to develop Nakivubo Stadium. It was done in two batches – development of perimeter fence and shopping mall and the stadium.
The negotiation with Hamis Kigundu (Ham Enterprises) to develop a 30, 000-seater stadium is still on, the nation should rest assured because there is progress.
Then the other challenge was the state of affairs at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole built in 1999. I undertook the responsibility of visiting Nakivubo and Namboole in February 2020 and recommended the place be renovated and upgraded.
Caf and Fifa also came in April and did similar inspection recommending the facility needs face-lifting because it is getting old. The needs assessment was conducted to show Shs97b required.
We also secured the Namboole land titles in 2020 and mobilised for Sh1b to protect the land with fencing set to be done by the UPDF construction brigade.
In another novelty, the two shareholders Namboole stakeholders – Finance and Education and Sports ministry hadn’t done any general meeting, we did the first in 2020. We also composed the board in line with the Memorandum of Association.
In terms of assembling the team for Olympics, the First Lady has guided us the best way 35 athletes for Olympics and Paralympics the highest number since 1972, we suffered a budget cut of Shs8bn but we made certain progress, I salute all stakeholders.
Forecast on what happens now that you’re back, same old problems remain, what’s in plan for Olympics just days to go?
The challenges remain the same and have been compounded more by the second wave of Covid-19. Almost all government departments will suffer budget cuts to a tune of Shs2t and sports will be hit most.
That said, the major challenges of sports are three; the issue of the law (modern law that eliminates amateur structure), then the availability of sports infrastructure like Aki Bua, Teryet, KCCA stadium (government funded) and Buhinga.
The third challenge is funding. There are three sources of funding – the government which is also distressed because we run a cash budget. Source number two is corporate sponsorship but few federations are not doing well and thirdly, through international bodies funding.
We have 51 federations and I guided them to put a stop on registering new ones now. President Yoweri Museveni prefers only federations where Uganda has comparative advantage (niche).
For the Olympics, the government has provided the requisite funding for Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) with a budget of Shs8bn. We have so far secured Sh5.3bn to cater for arrears assumed during qualifiers, facilitation, upkeep, air tickets and all expenses.
What are the government’s expectations from the athletes in Tokyo this time round?
We are hopeful that we will be able to collect quite a number of gold, silver and bronze medals.
Sports has provided a positive image for Uganda. For the first time in recent memory, the government hired a private plane to take only four athletes to an international event amidst the biting Covid-19 restrictions. This is when Joshua Cheptegei broke the world record.
Despite the fact that we are in the new normal, it is the first time we are fielding many athletes. I have personally talked to these athletes and told them we believe in them.
We have given them motivational talks and we have medal hopes. We are aware of what happened to our first contingent and how we have got good news that the two positive cases have turned negative. We now await them to join the team of seven. We should be able to prepare our athletes for daily Covid-19 PCR tests at Olympics not to get demotivated.
Do you feel we are maximizing the market potential by sports? And also how much progress has been on the reward and recognition scheme for sportsmen and women?
Obua: It is natural that we are all associated with winning. To win you know there are associated benefits. In our history, we only look at the late John Akii-Bua and Stephen Kiprotich who won gold. The reason why the government funds the Olympics is motivation. We will facilitate them uniformly but with reward and recognition, the scheme is not with UOC, NCS or ministry by a goodwill gesture by the President and handled by the State House.
Going forward we are trying to engage them, the moment the president sends it to the ministry like it was for the students loan scheme from State House scholarship, it is what we are foreseeing. It is a pilot scheme by president Museveni right now.
You are seen as favouring Fufa and football over others. For example; the national basketball women’s team recently pulled of a qualifying tournament due to lack of funding yet government has previously hired a private jet for football. When shall we achieve equality?
We stopped registering other emerging federations due to limited funding. That said, we treat all the federations similarly. You the federations, have you marketed yourself or are waiting only for the government.
Secondly, consideration for funding depends on the number of competitions you’re engaged in. Football remains the most supported discipline for Uganda but the delivery of results suggests otherwise. Athletics and Netball have conquered the world stage but still lack in branding.
Out of the 51 federations I visited when I came in, over 31 didn’t have offices or addresses. How do you expect sponsors or funding?
Fufa funds are ring-fenced at the level of the ministry.
However, there would have been more progress this year without Covid-19. It is very difficult in life for all of us to be the same but we struggle to have the bare minimum.
Government will fancy you when you have the ability to handle finances, let’s open to the three funding avenues – government, international bodies and sponsors – just like Fufa does. We take into account the organisation, number of teams, competitions you’re in and how you market yourself.
NCS has been working on a funding policy for sports. Is it the solution to funding disparities? What should it entail?
It is a good ideal because it is the guiding principle. If federation B is receiving more than federation B, the policy is in place. It is good for setting up the parameters. If you have the policy and the budget is still low it won’t help.
If the funding policy is supported with more funds the better. What most of the federations are receiving are inadequate. We must move an extra mile to give the sports sub sector more funding.
FOCUS ON RETURN OF NAMBOOLE
In life I have always accepted who I am and the circumstances I’m in. If I told you how it will be I will be lying. Even if the budget money is just 30 percent of what is expected, the money will come in four quarters. I don’t want to lie to my God and my country. It will be determined by the government’s will to release the 30bn. We are looking at the pitch, seats, CCTV cameras and also presupposing the 30bn is released at once which may not be possible. I can state in affirmative that Namboole will be what it ought to be after the release of Shs97b. But the Shs30b will do what it can do. With the potential budget cuts I don’t want to be sure that by September we will be good to go.
