National Council of Sports (NCS) General Secretary Dr. Patrick Ogwel has labelled accountability and other allegations made against them by Uganda Netball Federation (UNF) President Sarah Babirye Kityo as false and not accurate.
This comes after Babirye told NBS Sport that Ogwel asked her to account for Sh425m yet she had instead received Sh186m for the Pent Series and Africa Netball Championship in November 2021 in Namibia. She had also earlier on told Parliamentary Adhoc Committee that Ogwel asks for kickbacks for any funds received. She also accuses NCS of causing administrative wrangles within the federation.
To counter Babirye’s claims, NCS held a lengthy press briefing on Wednesday at Cooper Chimney Restaurant in Lugogo to give their side of the story and they attributed UNF’s troubles to poor governance and accountability.
“I would like to make it clear that NCS secretariat headed by me is a fully accountable and professional statutory agency of government and in that we have set targets which are aligned with national development planning of Uganda and we have strategic missions to accomplish,” Ogwel told the media.
Ogwel revealed that the matter has already been referred to CID for investigations and she (Babirye) will provide evidence for allegations in court.
“I have registered that matter at a personal level and a case of defamation has been opened. It’s a matter of falsehood, malicious in nature and intended to defame and bring down my personality,” Ogwel said
On the Sh425m issue, Ogwel has accused UNF of failing to provide a clear budget for the trip up to date.
According to Ogwel, a review of the budget of Sh425m submitted by UNF for support of She Cranes Pent Series and Africa Netball Championship trip Windhoek (October 29 to November 16 2021) revealed that out of Sh424m, NCS was able to support UNF with Sh186m. However, accountability submitted further revealed that UNF did not receive any other funding in relation to the event however the event took place and according to him, this shows inappropriate and inaccurate budgeting from the local netball governing body.
On the issues regarding governance, NCS Chairperson Ambrose Tashobya noted that they only recognise the Uganda Netball Federation Executive that assumed office on June 25 2021 after an elective assembly.
This is because Babirye has since then amended the federation’s constitution and changed the executive after suspending four initial members she came into office with, that is; Ms.Mande Aminah (General Secretary), Muhumuza Richard (Vice President Technical) and Yahaya Ssengabi (Publicity). This happened in January 2022.
NCS also adds that everything the federation has done after amending the constitution is null and void because there was an interim court order in February last year that prohibited UNF from conducting any activity.
Going forward, NCS says that;
1. NCS recognizes the UNF Executive that was elected on 05th June 2021 as the legitimate body to promote Netball in Uganda. Other changes, amendments factored in during the Court of Junction are NULL & VOID.
2. The NCS Council resolved that national Associations that receive government funds should provide accountability within 45 days upon receipt. Those that do not account within this period will not receive more funding from NCS.
3. NCS Council has resolved that it’s Technical Committee shall make Policies that safeguard the interests of sports Athletes/Players as key elements in the sector.
4. NCS demands that all national associations follow their respective Constitutions in the management and governance of their associations.
5. NCS hopes that Uganda Netball Federation makes necessary amends to the issues raised in the Audit Report. The matter has also been forwarded to higher authorities.
